CVE-2016-6180 in Honor 4C
Summary
by MITRE
The Camera driver in Huawei Honor 4C smartphones with software CHM-UL00C00 before CHM-UL00C00B564, CHM-TL00C01 before CHM-TL00C01B564, and CHM-TL00C00 before CHM-TL00HC00B564 allows attackers to cause a denial of service (system crash) or gain privileges via a crafted application, a different vulnerability than CVE-2016-6181, CVE-2016-6182, CVE-2016-6183, and CVE-2016-6184.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-6180 represents a critical security flaw within the camera driver component of Huawei Honor 4C smartphones running specific firmware versions. This issue affects devices with software configurations including CHM-UL00C00 before CHM-UL00C00B564, CHM-TL00C01 before CHM-TL00C01B564, and CHM-TL00C00 before CHM-TL00HC00B564. The flaw resides in the kernel-level driver responsible for managing camera functionality, creating a potential attack surface that adversaries can exploit to compromise system integrity. The vulnerability operates through a crafted application that manipulates the camera driver's processing mechanisms, leading to either system instability or unauthorized privilege escalation.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and memory management within the camera driver module. When a malicious application attempts to interact with the camera hardware through improper parameter handling or buffer manipulation, the driver fails to properly validate the incoming data structures. This validation failure creates opportunities for attackers to inject malformed data that triggers unexpected behavior within the kernel space. The flaw exhibits characteristics consistent with buffer overflow conditions and improper access control mechanisms, allowing attackers to either corrupt system memory or elevate their privileges from user-level to kernel-level execution context. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of Stack-based Buffer Overflow and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068 for bypassing system protections.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-6180 extends beyond simple system crashes to encompass potential full system compromise. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability can cause persistent denial of service conditions that render the device unusable for camera functionality and potentially affect overall system stability. More critically, the privilege escalation aspect enables malicious actors to gain root-level access to the device, allowing them to modify system files, install persistent malware, or extract sensitive user data. The vulnerability affects the device's core security posture by undermining the kernel's integrity protection mechanisms and potentially enabling further exploitation of other system components. Mobile devices running affected firmware versions become susceptible to attack vectors that could compromise personal information, communications, and device security.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-6180 require immediate firmware updates from Huawei to address the camera driver implementation flaws. Users should promptly install available security patches that correct the input validation and memory management issues within the affected driver components. Network administrators and security teams should implement monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts through unusual camera driver activity or privilege escalation events. Device manufacturers should consider implementing additional runtime protections such as kernel address space layout randomization and stack canaries to further reduce exploitability. Organizations deploying these devices should conduct vulnerability assessments to identify affected systems and establish incident response procedures for potential exploitation. The remediation process should also include user education regarding the risks of installing untrusted applications that might attempt to exploit this vulnerability through the camera interface.