CVE-2025-36896 in Android
Summary
by MITRE • 09/04/2025
WLAN in Android before 2025-09-05 on Google Pixel devices allows elevation of privilege, aka A-394765106.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/05/2025
This vulnerability affects the wireless local area network subsystem within Android operating systems, specifically impacting Google Pixel devices released prior to the 2025-09-05 security update. The flaw represents a critical privilege escalation vulnerability that allows malicious actors to gain elevated system privileges through improper access control mechanisms within the WLAN component. The vulnerability is classified as a privilege escalation issue under the Common Weakness Enumeration framework with CWE-276, indicating inadequate permissions and access control configurations that enable unauthorized elevation of privileges. The specific nature of this vulnerability stems from insufficient validation and authorization checks within the wireless networking stack, particularly in how the system handles network-related operations and user permissions. The affected Android versions demonstrate a failure to properly enforce security boundaries between different privilege levels, creating an exploitable path for attackers to transition from standard user privileges to system-level access. This weakness directly impacts the integrity and confidentiality of device operations, as it allows adversaries to potentially access sensitive system resources, modify critical components, or exfiltrate protected data through the wireless network interface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it fundamentally compromises the security architecture of affected Pixel devices. Attackers leveraging this vulnerability could potentially execute arbitrary code with system-level privileges, modify system binaries, install malicious applications, or establish persistent backdoors within the device. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that the WLAN subsystem is continuously active and often interacts with untrusted network environments, making exploitation more likely in real-world scenarios. The vulnerability's presence in Google Pixel devices indicates a broader systemic issue within the Android wireless networking implementation, potentially affecting millions of users who rely on these devices for both personal and professional communication. Security researchers have identified that the flaw can be exploited through carefully crafted network packets or malicious Wi-Fi networks that trigger improper access control behavior within the system's wireless management processes.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate deployment of the security patches released by Google as part of their September 2025 update cycle, which specifically address the access control issues within the WLAN subsystem. Organizations and individual users should prioritize applying these updates to all affected Pixel devices to prevent exploitation attempts. Network administrators should implement additional monitoring of wireless network traffic to detect potential exploitation attempts and consider temporarily disabling unnecessary wireless services on affected devices. The vulnerability's classification under the ATT&CK framework places it within the privilege escalation category, specifically targeting techniques that allow adversaries to gain elevated privileges through system-level access. Security teams should enhance their monitoring capabilities to detect unusual wireless network behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. Device manufacturers should conduct thorough security reviews of their wireless networking implementations to identify similar access control weaknesses that could lead to comparable vulnerabilities. The incident highlights the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing proper network segmentation to limit the potential impact of such vulnerabilities, particularly in enterprise environments where mobile device security is paramount.