CVE-2016-2489 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
The Qualcomm video driver in Android before 2016-06-01 on Nexus 5, 5X, 6, and 6P devices allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka internal bug 27407629.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2019
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-2489 represents a critical privilege escalation flaw within the Qualcomm video driver component of Android operating systems. This security weakness specifically affected Nexus devices including the Nexus 5, 5X, 6, and 6P models, with the vulnerability remaining unpatched until the Android security update released on June 1, 2016. The flaw resides in the underlying video driver implementation that processes multimedia content, creating a pathway for malicious applications to execute code with elevated privileges. This vulnerability demonstrates how hardware-specific driver components can become attack vectors for sophisticated exploitation techniques, particularly when these drivers operate with kernel-level access and privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and memory management within the Qualcomm video driver code. Attackers could craft malicious applications that exploit buffer overflows or memory corruption issues within the driver's processing routines. These flaws typically occur when the driver fails to properly validate parameters passed from user-space applications before processing video data streams. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-121, which describes stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-125, which addresses out-of-bounds read conditions. The exploitability of this flaw is significantly enhanced because the video driver operates at a privileged kernel level, allowing successful exploitation to grant attackers full system access or root privileges.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-2489 extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the security model of affected Android devices. Once exploited, attackers could gain complete control over the device's operating system, enabling them to install malicious applications, access sensitive user data, modify system configurations, or establish persistent backdoors. The vulnerability's presence on widely deployed Nexus devices created a substantial attack surface, particularly given the popularity of these devices among developers and security researchers. This flaw directly violates the principle of least privilege by allowing unprivileged applications to execute code with kernel-level permissions, effectively bypassing Android's core security mechanisms including SELinux policies and application sandboxing controls. The attack vector demonstrates how attackers can leverage legitimate system components to achieve unauthorized access, making detection and prevention particularly challenging.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability required immediate system updates and patch management implementation. The most effective remediation involved installing the Android security update released on June 1, 2016, which included patches to the Qualcomm video driver component. Organizations and users had to ensure their devices received these updates promptly, as the vulnerability remained exploitable until the patches were applied. Additional protective measures included implementing mobile device management policies that enforced automatic security updates, disabling unnecessary multimedia processing capabilities, and monitoring for suspicious application behavior. The vulnerability's characteristics align with ATT&CK technique T1068, which describes the use of local privilege escalation techniques, and T1059, covering command and scripting interpreter usage for exploitation. Security professionals should have implemented network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and established incident response procedures to address successful compromises. Device manufacturers and security vendors also needed to conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of similar driver components across different hardware platforms to identify and remediate comparable weaknesses in their ecosystems.