CVE-2018-7899 in Berkeley Smart Phone
Summary
by MITRE
The Mali Driver of Huawei Berkeley-AL20 and Berkeley-BD smart phones with software Berkeley-AL20 8.0.0.105(C00), 8.0.0.111(C00), 8.0.0.112D(C00), 8.0.0.116(C00), 8.0.0.119(C00), 8.0.0.119D(C00), 8.0.0.122(C00), 8.0.0.132(C00), 8.0.0.132D(C00), 8.0.0.142(C00), 8.0.0.151(C00), Berkeley-BD 1.0.0.21, 1.0.0.22, 1.0.0.23, 1.0.0.24, 1.0.0.26, 1.0.0.29 has a double free vulnerability. An attacker can trick a user to install a malicious application and exploit this vulnerability when in the exception handling process. Successful exploitation may cause system reboot.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/03/2023
The CVE-2018-7899 vulnerability represents a critical double free error in the Mali graphics driver component of Huawei smartphones running specific versions of the Berkeley firmware. This flaw exists within the graphics processing unit driver stack that manages hardware acceleration for graphical operations on mobile devices. The vulnerability manifests during exception handling processes when the system attempts to free memory that has already been released, creating a condition where memory corruption can occur. The affected devices include various models in the Berkeley-AL20 and Berkeley-BD series, with multiple software versions exhibiting this weakness. The double free vulnerability falls under CWE-415, which specifically addresses the freeing of memory that has already been freed, creating potential for arbitrary code execution or system instability. This issue is particularly concerning in mobile environments where graphics drivers handle sensitive operations and interact with multiple system components during normal usage patterns.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to convince a user to install a malicious application that can trigger the specific memory management error during graphics processing operations. When the system encounters an exception during normal graphics driver operations, the flawed memory management code attempts to free the same memory block twice, potentially allowing for heap corruption that can be leveraged to escalate privileges or cause system crashes. The operational impact of successful exploitation includes complete system reboot, which can be disruptive to users and may provide opportunities for attackers to execute malicious code or perform denial-of-service attacks. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates within the graphics driver context, which typically runs with elevated privileges and has direct access to hardware resources. The Mali driver's role in processing graphical content makes it a prime target for exploitation, as graphics operations are frequent and often involve complex memory management sequences that can be manipulated by malicious applications.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for application execution and T1068 for local privilege escalation. The attack vector relies on social engineering to convince users to install malicious applications, which then exploit the driver's memory management flaw. The double free condition creates a memory corruption scenario that can be leveraged to execute arbitrary code or cause system instability. The affected firmware versions suggest this was a widespread issue across multiple device generations, indicating that Huawei may have failed to properly address memory management issues in their graphics driver implementations. Organizations and users should prioritize updating to patched firmware versions that address the memory management errors in the Mali driver component. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper memory management practices in embedded systems and mobile device drivers, where improper handling of memory allocation and deallocation can create severe security implications. Security researchers should monitor for similar patterns in other graphics driver implementations and ensure that exception handling code properly validates memory states before attempting deallocation operations. The exploitation of this vulnerability highlights the need for comprehensive testing of driver code under various exception scenarios to prevent similar double free conditions that could compromise system integrity and user security.