Zero-day vulnerability in Google Android

Privilege escalation
CVE-2013-6282

The vulnerability was exploited against Android devices in October and November 2013. The vulnerability is originally in SE Linux kernel.

Known malware:

Gooligan.

Vulnerability details

Advisory: SB2013102501 - Privilege escalation in Google Android

Vulnerable component: Google Android

CVE-ID: CVE-2013-6282

CVSSv3 score: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H/E:H/RL:O/RC:C

CWE-ID: CWE-20 - Improper input validation

Description:

The vulnerability allows a local attacker to obtain elevated privileges on the target system.

The weakness exists due to an error in the put_user/get_user kernel API. A local attacker can use a malicious application to read and write kernel memory and gain kernel privileges on the system.

Successful exploitation of the vulnerability results in arbitrary code execution on the vulnerable system.

Note: the vulnerability was being actively exploited.

Public Exploits:

- Android - get_user/put_user Exploit (Metasploit) [Exploit-DB]

- Linux Kernel < 3.4.5 (Android 4.2.2 / 4.4 ARM) - Privilege Escalation [Exploit-DB]

External links:

https://www.codeaurora.org/projects/security-advisories/missing-access-checks-putusergetuser-kernel-...
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/11/14/11
http://www.helix-os.com/the-huge-disappointment-of-se-android/
https://git.kernel.org/cgit/linux/kernel/git/torvalds/linux.git/commit/arch/arm/include/asm/uaccess....
https://arstechnica.com/security/2016/11/1-million-android-accounts-compromised-by-android-malware-c...

About zero-day vulnerabilities

Zero-day vulnerability is an undisclosed vulnerability in software that hackers can exploit to compromise computer programs, gain unauthorized access to sensitive data, penetrate networks, etc. We consider vulnerability a zero-day when there is no solution provided from software vendor and the vulnerability is being actively exploited by malicious actors.

Zero-day candidate is a potential zero-day vulnerability in software which might have been used in targeted attacks, however there is no evidence to support this suggestion.