CVE-2017-13245 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
A elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Upstream kernel audio driver. Product: Android. Versions: Android kernel. ID: A-64315347.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/03/2021
The CVE-2017-13245 vulnerability represents a critical elevation of privilege flaw within the Android kernel's upstream audio driver component, fundamentally compromising system security boundaries and user trust. This vulnerability resides in the kernel-level audio subsystem that manages device audio hardware interactions, creating a pathway for malicious actors to escalate their privileges from standard user contexts to kernel-level execution. The flaw specifically affects Android devices running kernel versions that incorporate the affected audio driver code, making it a widespread concern across numerous Android implementations and device manufacturers.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and inadequate privilege checks within the kernel audio driver's handling of device ioctls and memory operations. When user-space applications interact with audio hardware through the kernel interface, the driver fails to properly validate the parameters passed during these operations, allowing for memory corruption and arbitrary code execution. This weakness enables attackers to manipulate kernel memory structures through crafted audio commands, effectively bypassing standard kernel security mechanisms such as kernel address space layout randomization and stack canaries. The vulnerability manifests when the audio driver processes specific ioctl commands that should only be accessible to privileged kernel components, but due to insufficient validation, these commands can be invoked from unprivileged user contexts.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-13245 extends far beyond simple privilege escalation, as it provides attackers with complete control over the device's kernel execution environment. Once exploited, the vulnerability allows threat actors to execute arbitrary code with the highest system privileges, enabling them to modify system files, install malicious applications, access all user data, and potentially compromise the entire device. This type of vulnerability directly maps to attack techniques described in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under privilege escalation and kernel-mode rootkits, where adversaries can establish persistent backdoors and maintain long-term access to compromised systems. The vulnerability's presence in the upstream kernel means that it affects a broad range of Android devices, from smartphones to tablets, as the affected code is part of the standard kernel implementation used across multiple device vendors.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of kernel-level security testing and proper input validation in system drivers. The flaw aligns with CWE-121, which addresses stack-based buffer overflow conditions, and CWE-122, which covers heap-based buffer overflow conditions, as the memory corruption occurs during audio driver operations. Device manufacturers and security researchers have documented that exploitation of this vulnerability typically requires minimal user interaction, often occurring through malicious applications that leverage the audio subsystem for privilege escalation. The vulnerability's exploitation is particularly concerning because it operates below the application layer, making detection and prevention extremely challenging for traditional security solutions that focus on user-space monitoring. Mitigation strategies include kernel updates, which require coordinated efforts between Android vendors and kernel maintainers, and device-specific patches that address the specific privilege validation flaws in the audio driver implementation. Organizations should prioritize immediate patch deployment and implement additional security measures such as kernel module integrity checking and runtime monitoring to prevent exploitation of this critical vulnerability.