CVE-2026-49883 in Android
Summary
by MITRE • 09/08/2026
In checkReadPermission of PermissionsManager.java, there is a possible way to monitor sensitive device state data due to a missing permission check. This could lead to local information disclosure with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/09/2026
The vulnerability identified in the Android framework's PermissionsManager class specifically within the checkReadPermission method represents a critical failure in access control logic that allows unauthorized entities to monitor sensitive device state data. This flaw stems from an omission where the system fails to verify whether the requesting application holds the necessary permissions before granting access to protected resources. In modern mobile operating systems, permission checks are designed as gatekeepers to ensure that only authorized applications can interact with hardware features or retrieve private user information. When this check is bypassed due to a coding error, it effectively nullifies the security boundary intended by the Android permission model, allowing any application running on the device to access data that should be restricted to privileged system components or explicitly granted apps.
From a technical perspective, the absence of a proper permission verification in the read path creates an information disclosure vector that can be exploited locally without requiring elevated privileges such as root access. The attacker does not need user interaction to trigger this vulnerability, which significantly lowers the barrier for exploitation and increases the likelihood of successful attacks by automated malware or malicious applications installed on the device. By leveraging this flaw, a compromised application can silently read sensitive state information including but not limited to location data, network connectivity status, battery levels, or other hardware states that are typically protected under specific permission categories like ACCESS_FINE_LOCATION or READ_PHONE_STATE depending on the exact implementation details of the affected version.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it enables persistent and stealthy surveillance capabilities for malicious actors. Since user interaction is not required, an attacker can establish a background service that continuously monitors device state changes without triggering any notifications or alerts to the end-user. This capability facilitates advanced threat scenarios such as tracking user movements based on location updates, inferring user activity patterns from network connectivity logs, or correlating battery drain with specific activities to build detailed behavioral profiles. Such information disclosure undermines the fundamental privacy guarantees provided by the operating system and can be used for targeted phishing, social engineering attacks, or further exploitation of other vulnerabilities that depend on contextual device state data.
This vulnerability aligns closely with CWE-200 which defines Information Exposure as a category where sensitive information is disclosed to unauthorized actors due to improper handling or lack of access controls. Furthermore, the attack vector corresponds to ATT&CK technique T1537 which involves transferring data over a communication channel outside of expected parameters, although in this context it manifests more directly as local privilege escalation through missing authorization checks akin to CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management. The exploitation relies on the principle that even if an application is not granted explicit permissions by the user at install time or via runtime prompts, the underlying framework logic erroneously permits access due to the flawed implementation in the permission manager module.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of the PermissionsManager class to enforce strict validation of caller identity and required permissions before any read operations are executed on protected resources. Developers must ensure that every entry point into sensitive data retrieval routines includes a comprehensive check against the AndroidManifest.xml declared permissions or runtime permission grants verified via ContextCompat.checkSelfPermission equivalents within the framework code itself. Additionally, implementing defense-in-depth measures such as stricter sandboxing rules and monitoring for anomalous patterns of state access can help detect attempts to exploit this flaw in real-time. System vendors should prioritize releasing security updates that address this specific logic error while also auditing other areas of the permission management subsystem for similar oversights to prevent broader systemic weaknesses from being exploited by sophisticated adversaries seeking to compromise device integrity and user privacy.