CVE-2017-0665 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
A elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Android framework. Product: Android. Versions: 4.4.4, 5.0.2, 5.1.1, 6.0, 6.0.1, 7.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2. Android ID: A-36991414.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/30/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-0665 represents a critical elevation of privilege flaw within the Android framework that affects multiple versions of the operating system including Android 4.4.4 through 7.1.2. This vulnerability resides in the system's permission handling mechanisms and allows malicious applications to escalate their privileges from standard user level to system level access. The Android ID A-36991414 indicates this was tracked as a significant security concern within Google's internal vulnerability tracking system, highlighting the potential severity of the flaw.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper validation of permission requests within the Android framework's core components. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious applications that manipulate the permission granting process, effectively bypassing the normal security boundaries that separate user applications from system-level operations. The flaw specifically affects how the system handles certain permission-related operations during the application installation and runtime processes, creating an opportunity for privilege escalation through malformed permission requests or by exploiting race conditions in the permission validation logic.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-0665 extends beyond simple privilege escalation as it provides attackers with complete system control over affected devices. Once exploited, malicious actors can access sensitive system resources, modify core Android components, install persistent backdoors, and potentially extract confidential data from the device. This vulnerability directly violates the fundamental security principle of least privilege by allowing applications to gain unauthorized access to system-level functionality that should only be available to trusted system components. The widespread adoption of affected Android versions means that millions of devices could be compromised, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in enterprise and consumer environments.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate system updates and patches from device manufacturers and carriers. Google released security updates for affected versions that addressed the underlying permission validation issues and corrected the privilege escalation mechanism. Organizations should implement comprehensive mobile device management solutions to ensure timely deployment of security patches across all managed devices. Additionally, users should avoid installing applications from untrusted sources and regularly update their Android systems to prevent exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which describes improper permission settings, and maps to attack patterns in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation techniques, specifically targeting the 'Exploitation for Privilege Escalation' and 'System Service Execution' domains. The remediation process should also include network monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts and application whitelisting policies to prevent installation of malicious applications that could leverage this vulnerability.