CVE-2026-20492 in MT2735
Summary
by MITRE • 08/03/2026
In Audio HAL, there is a possible system becoming unresponsive due to a race condition. This could lead to local denial of service with User execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS10960026 (Note: For MT6880, MT6890, MT6990, MT6988) / AUTO00851250 (Note: For MT2735, MT2737); Issue ID: MSV-7583.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/03/2026
This vulnerability resides within the Audio Hardware Abstraction Layer implementation where a race condition exists that can potentially cause system unresponsiveness. The flaw manifests when multiple threads or processes attempt to access audio hardware resources simultaneously without proper synchronization mechanisms, creating a scenario where system stability is compromised. The race condition specifically affects audio subsystem operations and can result in complete system hang or freeze conditions that require manual intervention or power cycle to resolve.
The technical nature of this vulnerability falls under CWE-362 which describes a race condition error where two or more threads are competing for the same resource without proper mutual exclusion controls. This type of flaw typically occurs when developers fail to implement adequate locking mechanisms or atomic operations when multiple execution paths access shared audio hardware state information. The vulnerability affects specific MediaTek chipset platforms including MT6880, MT6890, MT6990, and MT6988 processors, as well as MT2735 and MT2737 chipsets, indicating a widespread issue within the MediaTek ecosystem that impacts audio processing capabilities across multiple device generations.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability represents a significant local denial of service threat that requires only user execution privileges to exploit. The attack vector does not require user interaction, making it particularly dangerous as malicious users or compromised applications can trigger system instability without any direct user involvement. The impact extends beyond simple audio functionality degradation, potentially causing complete system freezes that disrupt all device operations and may lead to data loss or corruption during critical operations. This vulnerability affects the fundamental audio subsystem reliability and can be exploited to create persistent system instability.
The mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper thread synchronization mechanisms within the Audio HAL implementation, including mutex locks, semaphores, or other atomic operations to prevent concurrent access to shared audio hardware resources. System administrators should apply the vendor-provided patches identified by patch IDs ALPS10960026 and AUTO00851250 for affected MediaTek chipsets to address the race condition at the source code level. Additionally, monitoring systems should be implemented to detect unusual audio subsystem behavior patterns that might indicate race condition exploitation attempts. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 which covers network denial of service attacks and represents a system-level compromise that could potentially be leveraged as part of broader attack campaigns targeting device availability and stability.