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CVE-2011-1823 KEVPublic exploit High · 7.8 EPSS 41.4%

Android OS Privilege Escalation Vulnerability

Android · Android OS

Summary

The vold volume manager daemon in Android OS (versions 3.0 and 2.x before 2.3.4) trusts messages received from a PF_NETLINK socket, and its DirectVolume::handlePartitionAdded method fails to properly validate a negative index because it only checks the maximum value of a signed integer. An attacker with local access and low privileges can send a crafted negative index to trigger memory corruption, allowing arbitrary code execution and root privilege escalation, with no user interaction required.

Official description · NVD

The vold volume manager daemon on Android 3.0 and 2.x before 2.3.4 trusts messages that are received from a PF_NETLINK socket, which allows local users to execute arbitrary code and gain root privileges via a negative index that bypasses a maximum-only signed integer check in the DirectVolume::handlePartitionAdded method, which triggers memory corruption, as demonstrated by Gingerbreak.

Breakdown
74.3 / 100
Exploited
Yes, in CISA KEV
Reports
2
Tactics
2/15

How an attack unfolds

Based on mappings. Select a step to see the evidence.
  1. How attackers get in

  2. What they do

First seen exploited 10 years after disclosure.

  1. Disclosedday 0
  2. First seen exploitedVulnCheck KEV evidence+10 yrs
  3. Added to CISA KEVEU database agrees+11 yrs

CISA KEV listing is when exploitation was confirmed, not necessarily the first attack.

techniques

2 , grouped by in kill-chain order, 2 cited passages 2

ExecutionTA0002

Command and Scripting Interpreter T1059 Medium
AI mapping from the description · primary impact

arbitrary code execution as impact

allows local users to execute arbitrary code
From the official description (NVD) Original (opens in a new tab) ↗

Privilege EscalationTA0004

Exploitation for Privilege Escalation T1068 Medium
AI mapping from the description · how it is exploited

local exploit escalates to root privileges

allows local users to execute arbitrary code and gain root privileges
From the official description (NVD) Original (opens in a new tab) ↗

Detection

0 rules for this CVE · 126 general rules for its techniques

Rules for this CVE

0 that reference CVE-2011-1823 directly.

CVE-specific rules are not available in this build. Search SigmaHQ ↗

Sigma rules © SigmaHQ, Detection Rule License 1.1; linked, not reproduced.

What security researchers reported

Named in 2 threat reports
2 reportsMicrosoft2

Reports are matched by finding the exact id CVE-2011-1823 in their text; nobody has reviewed the match. One passage is shown per report, at most 320 characters, linked to the original.

Also mentioned in 50 community threat pulses (AlienVault OTX)

Weaker evidence

Pulses are indicator collections that anyone can publish. A mention is not confirmation of exploitation.

References

10 links, grouped by NVD tag (9 duplicates merged)
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