Description

In aidl, there is a possible memory corruption due to use after free. This could lead to local escalation of privilege if a malicious actor has already obtained the System privilege. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS11185225; Issue ID: MSV-9024.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "6.7",
  "pubDate": "2026-10-05T02:16:52.623Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-10-05T02:16:52.623Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A memory corruption vulnerability classified as a Use-After-Free (UAF) has been identified within the Android Interface Definition Language (AIDL) implementation.\nThis vulnerability allows an attacker to achieve local escalation of privilege (EoP) to a higher security context. The flaw exists within the underlying AIDL framework used for inter-process communication (IPC) between system components.\nThe primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential for unauthorized privilege escalation, enabling a malicious actor—who has already gained System-level access—to bypass security boundaries and potentially execute arbitrary code or access restricted system resources.\nExploitation does not require user interaction, making it a critical concern for system integrity. The flaw is identified by Issue ID: MSV-9024 and addressed via Patch ID: ALPS11185225.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability originates from improper lifecycle management of objects within the AIDL communication layer, specifically manifesting as a Use-After-Free condition. In the context of AIDL, which facilitates marshaling and unmarshaling of data between processes, memory objects are dynamically allocated to handle IPC transactions.\nThe UAF occurs when the AIDL runtime continues to reference a memory address that has already been deallocated or freed. This typically happens during concurrent IPC requests where an asynchronous task or a race condition triggers the premature release of an object while it is still in use by another thread or process. Because the pointer to this memory location is not nullified upon deallocation, the system retains a dangling pointer that points to reclaimed, invalid, or reallocated memory space.\nAn attacker with existing System privileges can exploit this by manipulating the IPC transaction flow to influence the state of the heap. By grooming the heap, the attacker can replace the freed memory block with malicious data before the dangling pointer is accessed. When the AIDL runtime subsequently references the dangling pointer, it treats the controlled memory as a legitimate object. This allows the attacker to hijack the control flow—for example, by overwriting virtual method tables (vtable) or function pointers stored within the corrupted memory structure.\nThe attack flow follows a structured pattern: 1) Initial exploitation of an existing, lower-level System-privileged entry point. 2) Triggering a specific sequence of AIDL IPC calls designed to induce a race condition within the memory management logic. 3) Influencing the heap allocator to reallocate the freed memory block with attacker-controlled payload. 4) Triggering the UAF access, leading to the execution of attacker-supplied instructions or escalation of the current process context to a higher privilege level (e.g., Kernel or Root).\nGiven that AIDL is fundamental to the Android communication stack, the vulnerability is exposed wherever IPC transactions are handled. Successful exploitation results in the compromise of the system's security architecture, permitting persistent access or the ability to perform operations outside the intended permission model."
}