CVE-2016-6773 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in the ih264d decoder in Mediaserver could enable a local malicious application to access data outside of its permission levels. This issue is rated as Moderate because it could be used to access sensitive data without permission. Product: Android. Versions: 6.0, 6.0.1, 7.0. Android ID: A-30481714.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/14/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2016-6773 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within the ih264d decoder component of Android's Mediaserver system. This decoder is responsible for processing h264 video streams and operates within the Android media framework that handles multimedia content processing. The issue stems from improper boundary checking and memory access controls within the video decoding pipeline, allowing unauthorized data access that violates fundamental security principles of application isolation and privilege separation.
The technical flaw manifests in the ih264d decoder's handling of video frame data structures and memory management during h264 decoding operations. When processing malformed or specially crafted video content, the decoder fails to properly validate input parameters and buffer boundaries, leading to memory access violations that can be exploited to read data from adjacent memory regions. This type of vulnerability falls under CWE-125, which describes "Out-of-bounds Read" conditions where programs access memory locations beyond the intended buffer boundaries. The vulnerability specifically affects the Android media server component that runs with elevated privileges to handle multimedia processing tasks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple information disclosure as it enables a local malicious application to bypass normal Android security boundaries and access sensitive data that should remain protected. An attacker could potentially extract encryption keys, user credentials, application data, or other confidential information stored in memory regions adjacent to the video decoding buffers. This represents a significant compromise of the Android security model where applications should be isolated from each other and from system resources. The vulnerability affects Android versions 6.0, 6.0.1, and 7.0, which were widely deployed across mobile devices, making the potential attack surface substantial. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1068, which covers 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation' and T1005, 'Data from Local System', demonstrating how local applications can leverage such flaws to access restricted system information.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-6773 require immediate system updates and patches from Google to address the memory handling issues within the ih264d decoder. Organizations should implement comprehensive patch management procedures to ensure all affected Android devices receive the necessary security updates. Additionally, mobile device management solutions should enforce strict application sandboxing policies and monitor for unusual network activity that might indicate exploitation attempts. Network administrators should consider implementing network segmentation and access controls to limit the potential damage from successful exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of secure coding practices in multimedia processing components and the need for thorough input validation and memory boundary checking in system-level software components. Security monitoring should focus on detecting anomalous media processing activities and unauthorized memory access patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts.