CVE-2016-6756 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in Qualcomm components including the camera driver and video driver could enable a local malicious application to access data outside of its permission levels. This issue is rated as Moderate because it first requires compromising a privileged process. Product: Android. Versions: Kernel-3.10, Kernel-3.18. Android ID: A-29464815. References: QC-CR#1042068.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/20/2020
The vulnerability described in CVE-2016-6756 represents a significant information disclosure weakness within Qualcomm's Android kernel components, specifically affecting camera and video drivers operating within kernel versions 3.10 and 3.18. This flaw resides in the privilege escalation mechanism that governs data access permissions within the Android operating system's kernel space, creating a pathway for malicious applications to bypass normal security boundaries. The vulnerability's classification as moderate severity reflects the requirement for initial compromise of a privileged process, yet this prerequisite does not diminish its potential impact on system security. The issue stems from improper access control implementation within the Qualcomm-specific kernel drivers that manage hardware interfaces for multimedia processing, particularly camera and video functionalities.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability involves a local malicious application that first must gain access to a privileged process within the Android system, after which it can leverage the flawed driver implementation to access memory regions or data structures that should normally be restricted to higher-privilege contexts. This information disclosure occurs through improper kernel memory management where the camera and video driver components fail to properly validate access requests from lower-privilege processes attempting to read data from protected kernel memory areas. The flaw essentially creates a bypass mechanism that allows unauthorized data access through kernel-level interfaces, enabling the malicious application to extract sensitive information that would typically be protected by the system's privilege separation mechanisms. This vulnerability directly relates to CWE-200, which addresses improper information disclosure, and demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining proper kernel-level access controls.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-6756 extends beyond simple data exposure, as it provides attackers with potential access to sensitive multimedia data, system configuration information, and potentially other kernel-level data that could be used for further exploitation. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to access camera metadata, video processing buffers, or other sensitive information that might contain personally identifiable information, device-specific identifiers, or other confidential data. The requirement for an initial compromise of a privileged process means that this vulnerability typically cannot be exploited directly from the application layer without first achieving some form of system-level access, but once this prerequisite is met, the information disclosure becomes significantly more dangerous. This vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining proper kernel security boundaries and implementing robust access control mechanisms within hardware driver components.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require a multi-layered approach that includes immediate patch deployment for affected kernel versions, proper privilege management within the Android system, and enhanced monitoring of privileged process access patterns. System administrators should prioritize updating to kernel versions that contain the necessary security patches provided by Qualcomm and Google, while also implementing process monitoring to detect unusual access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the necessity of proper kernel security hardening measures, including memory protection mechanisms and access control validation routines that should be implemented at the driver level to prevent unauthorized data access. Organizations should also consider implementing application sandboxing measures and privilege separation techniques that can limit the potential impact of compromised privileged processes, while maintaining compliance with security standards such as those outlined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework and ISO 27001 for information security management.