CVE-2017-0421 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in the Framework APIs could enable a local malicious application to bypass operating system protections that isolate application data from other applications. This issue is rated as High because it could be used to gain access to data that the application does not have access to. Product: Android. Versions: 5.0.2, 5.1.1, 6.0, 6.0.1, 7.0, 7.1.1. Android ID: A-32555637.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/12/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-0421 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within Android's Framework APIs that fundamentally undermines the operating system's application sandboxing mechanisms. This weakness resides in the core framework components that govern how applications interact with system resources and each other, creating a pathway for malicious local applications to circumvent the isolation protections that are essential for maintaining data security across the Android ecosystem. The vulnerability affects multiple Android versions including 5.0.2, 5.1.1, 6.0, 6.0.1, 7.0, and 7.1.1, indicating a widespread issue that persisted across several major releases and affecting a substantial portion of Android devices deployed in the field.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper access control mechanisms within the Android framework that should normally prevent applications from accessing data belonging to other applications. When exploited, this flaw allows a malicious application to read sensitive data that should be restricted to specific applications or system components. The vulnerability operates at the API level where framework components fail to properly validate access requests, enabling unauthorized data retrieval through carefully crafted API calls that bypass normal security checks. This represents a violation of the principle of least privilege that is fundamental to secure system design and aligns with CWE-284 access control weaknesses that permit unauthorized access to resources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it provides a local attacker with the capability to extract sensitive information from other applications running on the same device, potentially including personal data, credentials, application-specific configurations, and other confidential information. Attackers could leverage this vulnerability to perform data theft, credential harvesting, or to gain insights into other applications' internal workings that could be used for further exploitation. The high severity rating reflects the potential for significant data breaches and the ease with which a local malicious application could exploit this weakness without requiring elevated privileges or external network access. This vulnerability directly impacts the Android security model's core tenet of application isolation and could enable cascading attacks where one compromised application serves as a foothold for accessing broader system resources.
Organizations and security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including applying the relevant Android security patches released by Google, which address the underlying access control flaws in the framework APIs. System administrators should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments to identify potentially compromised devices and ensure that all affected Android versions are updated to the latest security releases. The mitigation strategy should also include monitoring for suspicious application behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts and implementing additional application-level security controls such as runtime application self-protection mechanisms. From a threat modeling perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059 command and scripting interpreter and T1070 indicator removal, as attackers may attempt to use this vulnerability to establish persistence or hide their activities within the compromised system. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing robust application sandboxing controls as part of comprehensive mobile security strategies.