Actively exploited vulnerability

Android Kernel: memory corruption flaw under attack

CVE-2019-2215 · Android Kernel Use-After-Free Vulnerability

Concerns everyone who uses it7.8 high

What is affected

Android Kernel is found on ordinary personal computers and phones, so this is not only a problem for companies. If you use it and have not updated since the fix was released, you are exposed.

Android Kernel contains a use-after-free vulnerability in binder.c that allows for privilege escalation from an application to the Linux Kernel. This vulnerability was observed chained with CVE-2020-0041 and CVE-2020-0069 under exploit chain "AbstractEmu."

CISA's description

What an attacker can do

This is a memory corruption flaw. It lets an attacker corrupt the program's memory by feeding it specially crafted content: a web page, a file or a network message. The result ranges from a crash to the attacker running their own code.

How it is reached
Needs access to the device or a file opened on it
Access the attacker needs
A basic user account
Does the victim have to do something?
No, works without the victim doing anything

What to do

  1. Update Android Kernel now. Open the update or "About" screen, install whatever is offered and restart the app or device, because the fix is not active until you do.
  2. Turn on automatic updates so the next fix arrives without you having to look for it.
  3. If your device is too old to receive this update, stop using the affected app for anything sensitive and plan a replacement.

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

Action required by CISA for US federal agencies

How urgent is it

CISA added this vulnerability to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalogue on November 3, 2021, which means there is reliable evidence of attacks in the wild. US federal agencies must fix it by May 3, 2022, a deadline that has already passed. That deadline does not bind anyone else, but it shows how seriously the agency rates it.

The EPSS model estimates a 72% probability that this flaw will be exploited somewhere in the next 30 days. That is higher than 99.4% of all scored vulnerabilities.

Its CVSS severity score is 7.8 out of 10 (high), as recorded in the US National Vulnerability Database.

Technical description

A use-after-free in binder.c allows an elevation of privilege from an application to the Linux Kernel. No user interaction is required to exploit this vulnerability, however exploitation does require either the installation of a malicious local application or a separate vulnerability in a network facing application.Product: AndroidAndroid ID: A-141720095

NIST National Vulnerability Database
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