Privilege escalation via Audio HAL use-after-free
Published Sep 7, 2026 · Updated Sep 8, 2026
Use-after-free in the Audio HAL of affected MediaTek chipsets allows local users with System privilege to escalate privileges. The Audio HAL accesses an object after its memory has been freed, but MediaTek has not disclosed the affected function, lifetime error, or trigger. Exploitation requires prior System privilege and no user interaction; success can execute code with higher privileges on the device.
Summary
What happened
Use-after-free in the Audio HAL of affected MediaTek chipsets allows local users with System privilege to escalate privileges. The Audio HAL accesses an object after its memory has been freed, but MediaTek has not disclosed the affected function, lifetime error, or trigger. Exploitation requires prior System privilege and no user interaction; success can execute code with higher privileges on the device.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-20506
- Published
- Sep 7, 2026
- Updated
- Sep 8, 2026
- Vendor
- MediaTek
- Product
- MediaTek Chipset
- Classifications
- CWE-416, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- admin
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Sep 7, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Sep 8, 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=MT2718
- Affected versionversion=MT6739
- Affected versionversion=MT6761
- Affected versionversion=MT6765
- Affected versionversion=MT6768
- Affected versionversion=MT6769
- Affected versionversion=MT6781
- Affected versionversion=MT6789
- Affected versionversion=MT6833
- Affected versionversion=MT6835
- Affected versionversion=MT6853
- Affected versionversion=MT6855
- Affected versionversion=MT6858
- Affected versionversion=MT6877
- Affected versionversion=MT6878
- Affected versionversion=MT6879
- Affected versionversion=MT6881
- Affected versionversion=MT6883
- Affected versionversion=MT6885
- Affected versionversion=MT6886
- Affected versionversion=MT6889
- Affected versionversion=MT6893
- Affected versionversion=MT6895
- Affected versionversion=MT6897
- Affected versionversion=MT6899
- Affected versionversion=MT6983
- Affected versionversion=MT6985
- Affected versionversion=MT6989
- Affected versionversion=MT6991
- Affected versionversion=MT6993
- Affected versionversion=MT8126
- Affected versionversion=MT8168
- Affected versionversion=MT8171
- Affected versionversion=MT8186
- Affected versionversion=MT8188
- Affected versionversion=MT8189
- Affected versionversion=MT8196
- Affected versionversion=MT8321
- Affected versionversion=MT8365
- Affected versionversion=MT8367
- Affected versionversion=MT8385
- Affected versionversion=MT8390
- Affected versionversion=MT8391
- Affected versionversion=MT8668
- Affected versionversion=MT8676
- Affected versionversion=MT8678
- Affected versionversion=MT8696
- Affected versionversion=MT8755
- Affected versionversion=MT8766
- Affected versionversion=MT8766R
- Affected versionversion=MT8768
- Affected versionversion=MT8771
- Affected versionversion=MT8775
- Affected versionversion=MT8781
- Affected versionversion=MT8786
- Affected versionversion=MT8788E
- Affected versionversion=MT8791T
- Affected versionversion=MT8792
- Affected versionversion=MT8796
- Affected versionversion=MT8797
- Affected versionversion=MT8798
- Affected versionversion=MT8799
- Affected versionversion=MT8873
- Affected versionversion=MT8883
- Affected versionversion=MT8893
- Affected versionversion=MT8910
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Published CVSS scores
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Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
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Public exploit references
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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