Local privilege escalation via GPU ioctl bounds error
Published Dec 8, 2023 · Updated May 27, 2025
Out-of-bounds write in the Pixel mali_kbase kernel component allows local users to escalate privileges through a crafted GPU ioctl. The gpu_pixel_handle_buffer_liveness_update_ioctl handler fails to validate buffer-liveness input before writing beyond its intended bounds. A low-privileged local process can reach the ioctl without user interaction and gain elevated privileges on affected Pixel devices.
Summary
What happened
Out-of-bounds write in the Pixel mali_kbase kernel component allows local users to escalate privileges through a crafted GPU ioctl. The gpu_pixel_handle_buffer_liveness_update_ioctl handler fails to validate buffer-liveness input before writing beyond its intended bounds. A low-privileged local process can reach the ioctl without user interaction and gain elevated privileges on affected Pixel devices.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-48421
- Published
- Dec 8, 2023
- Updated
- May 27, 2025
- Vendor
- Product
- Android
- Classifications
- CWE-787, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 8, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 27, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
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- Affected versionversion=Android kernel
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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