CVE-2026-55318 in Android
Summary
by MITRE • 09/15/2026
In multiple locations, there is a possible use-after-free due to a race condition. This could lead to remote code execution with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/15/2026
The vulnerability described represents a critical security flaw characterized by a use-after-free error triggered by a race condition within the software's memory management subsystem. A use-after-free occurs when a program continues to use a pointer after the memory it points to has been freed, which can lead to undefined behavior and potentially allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code. In this specific instance, the root cause is identified as a race condition, meaning that multiple threads or processes access shared data concurrently without proper synchronization mechanisms in place. This lack of atomicity allows for a window of opportunity where memory allocated for one object may be deallocated by one thread while another thread still holds a reference to it and attempts to access or modify the freed memory region.
From an operational perspective, this flaw is particularly severe because it enables remote code execution without requiring any additional privileges from the attacker. This implies that even users with minimal system rights can exploit the vulnerability to gain higher-level control over the affected system. Furthermore, the fact that user interaction is not required for exploitation significantly lowers the barrier for attack initiation. Attackers do not need to trick a victim into clicking a malicious link or opening a compromised file; instead, they can potentially trigger the race condition through automated network requests or background processes, making this vulnerability highly susceptible to widespread automated attacks and worm-like propagation behaviors.
The technical implications of such a flaw extend beyond immediate code execution. By manipulating the state of freed memory, an attacker may be able to control what data is written into that region if it has been reallocated for another purpose. This can lead to arbitrary read/write primitives, allowing the extraction of sensitive information from system memory or the modification of critical application states. The absence of user interaction and privilege escalation requirements classifies this as a high-severity issue under common vulnerability scoring systems due to its ease of exploitation and broad impact potential across different security contexts.
In terms of industry standards classification, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-416, which defines use-after-free errors, indicating improper handling of memory deallocation relative to pointer usage. The presence of a race condition further associates the flaw with CWE-362, describing concurrent execution issues where shared resources are accessed without adequate locking or synchronization. From an offensive security framework perspective, such exploitation techniques often map to MITRE ATT&CK tactics involving initial access and privilege escalation, specifically leveraging memory corruption vulnerabilities to bypass standard security controls and establish a foothold within the target environment.
Mitigation strategies for this type of vulnerability require both immediate patching and long-term architectural improvements. Developers must implement robust synchronization primitives such as mutexes or atomic operations to ensure that memory allocation and deallocation are handled in an mutually exclusive manner, thereby eliminating the race window. Additionally, employing static analysis tools during the development phase can help identify potential use-after-free scenarios before deployment. For system administrators, applying vendor-provided security patches promptly is essential to close this gap. In environments where patching may be delayed, network segmentation and strict input validation on exposed services can reduce the attack surface by limiting exposure to untrusted sources that might trigger the vulnerable code paths.