Local privilege escalation via transition tapjacking
Published Dec 8, 2025 · Updated Feb 26, 2026
Tapjacking in Android Framework 13 through 16 allows local users to gain privileges by obscuring permission-granting UI. DefaultTransitionHandler permits three-second default transitions while InputDispatcher lets nominally opaque windows below 0.5 alpha receive touches, enabling an overlay to redirect a user's tap. A malicious app and user interaction are required; a successful tap grants app permissions and elevates the app's privileges.
Summary
What happened
Tapjacking in Android Framework 13 through 16 allows local users to gain privileges by obscuring permission-granting UI. DefaultTransitionHandler permits three-second default transitions while InputDispatcher lets nominally opaque windows below 0.5 alpha receive touches, enabling an overlay to redirect a user's tap. A malicious app and user interaction are required; a successful tap grants app permissions and elevates the app's privileges.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2025-48639
- Published
- Dec 8, 2025
- Updated
- Feb 26, 2026
- Vendor
- Google Cloud
- Product
- Android
- Classifications
- CWE-1021, T1548
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Dec 8, 2025CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Feb 26, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=13
- Affected versionversion=14
- Affected versionversion=15
- Affected versionversion=16
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.
Weakness, pattern, technique
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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