CVE-2025-48597 in Android
Summary
by MITRE • 12/08/2025
In multiple locations, there is a possible way to trick a user into accepting a permission due to a tapjacking/overlay attack. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/21/2025
This vulnerability represents a sophisticated overlay attack vector that exploits user interface manipulation to achieve unauthorized privilege escalation. The flaw exists across multiple system components where user permission prompts are displayed, creating opportunities for malicious actors to overlay legitimate interface elements with deceptive counterparts. The vulnerability falls under the category of tapjacking attacks, which leverage the ability to intercept and manipulate touch events to deceive users into granting permissions they would not normally approve. This attack pattern specifically targets the trust relationship between users and system interfaces, exploiting the assumption that users interact with genuine system prompts rather than malicious overlays.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability relies on the system's failure to properly validate the authenticity of interface elements during permission prompts. Attackers can position malicious overlay windows that appear to be legitimate system dialogs, tricking users into interacting with these deceptive interfaces. The flaw demonstrates a critical weakness in the user interface security model where visual authenticity is not properly verified, allowing attackers to bypass standard permission validation mechanisms. This vulnerability operates at the application layer and can potentially affect any system component that relies on user interaction for permission granting, including mobile operating systems, desktop applications, and web-based interfaces.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple permission manipulation to enable local privilege escalation without requiring additional execution privileges or user interaction for initial exploitation. This means that once an attacker successfully deploys the overlay attack, they can execute arbitrary code with elevated privileges, potentially gaining access to sensitive system resources, modifying critical files, or establishing persistent access. The lack of requirement for user interaction makes this vulnerability particularly dangerous as it can be exploited automatically without the need for social engineering or physical access. The vulnerability creates a persistent threat vector that can be maintained across system reboots and can potentially be used to establish rootkits or other persistent malware installations.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both the immediate interface security concerns and the underlying architectural weaknesses that allow overlay attacks to succeed. System designers should implement robust interface authenticity verification mechanisms that can detect and prevent malicious overlays from appearing during critical permission prompts. This includes implementing secure display protocols that prevent overlay windows from appearing on top of permission dialogs, using hardware-level security features to verify interface integrity, and establishing strict validation procedures for all user interface elements. The solution should align with established security frameworks such as the CWE-693 weakness category for protection mechanism bypasses and should consider mitigation strategies from the ATT&CK framework under the privilege escalation techniques. Organizations should also implement comprehensive monitoring systems to detect unusual overlay activity and establish incident response procedures specifically designed to handle overlay-based attacks. Regular security audits of user interface components and permission handling mechanisms are essential to identify and remediate similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in the wild.