CVE-2017-0336 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in the NVIDIA GPU driver could enable a local malicious application to access data outside of its permission levels. This issue is rated as High because it could be used to access sensitive data without explicit user permission. Product: Android. Versions: Kernel-3.18. Android ID: A-33042679. References: N-CVE-2017-0336.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/04/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-0336 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within NVIDIA GPU drivers running on Android devices with kernel version 3.18. This security weakness specifically affects the graphics processing unit driver implementation that governs how GPU resources are allocated and accessed by applications. The vulnerability stems from improper access control mechanisms within the driver's memory management system, allowing unauthorized data access through privilege escalation techniques. The issue manifests when local malicious applications exploit a flaw in the driver's permission checking processes, enabling them to bypass normal security boundaries that should restrict access to sensitive memory regions and data structures.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a combination of kernel-level memory management flaws and insufficient input validation within the GPU driver subsystem. Attackers can leverage this weakness to access memory areas that contain sensitive information such as cryptographic keys, user credentials, application data, and system configuration details. The flaw operates at the boundary between user-space applications and kernel-space driver components, where improper validation of memory access requests allows malicious code to read beyond its designated memory allocation. This represents a classic privilege escalation vulnerability that aligns with CWE-200, which describes improper information disclosure in software systems. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it operates within the trusted GPU driver environment, making detection and prevention particularly challenging for security monitoring systems.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to Android device security and user privacy. The local nature of the exploit means that malicious applications must already have some level of access to the device, but once exploited, the vulnerability provides access to data that should remain protected even from applications with elevated privileges. The implications extend beyond simple data theft to include potential credential theft, application data compromise, and system integrity violations. Attackers could use this vulnerability to extract sensitive information from secure application containers, access encryption keys used for device encryption, or obtain authentication tokens that could be used for further exploitation. The vulnerability's classification as High severity reflects its potential for enabling unauthorized access to sensitive data without requiring additional privileges or user interaction, making it particularly dangerous in mobile environments where applications often have broad access permissions.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2017-0336 should focus on both immediate patching and long-term architectural improvements. The primary solution involves applying the official NVIDIA GPU driver updates that address the memory access control flaws in the kernel modules. Organizations should also implement application sandboxing measures and monitor for suspicious memory access patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security researchers recommend deploying runtime application protection systems that can detect and prevent unauthorized memory access attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and access control mechanisms in driver software, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1068 which covers exploits for privilege escalation. System administrators should also consider implementing network monitoring to detect potential data exfiltration attempts that might result from successful exploitation of this vulnerability, particularly in enterprise environments where Android devices may be used for corporate data access.