CVE-2026-93832 in Setup App
Summary
by MITRE • 10/01/2026
A component of one of the Motorola system applications was exported without permission, allowing for the revocation of runtime permissions from other apps.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/01/2026
The vulnerability described involves a critical misconfiguration in the Android security model within specific Motorola system applications, classified under CWE-269 Improper Privilege Management and aligned with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1055 Process Injection or related privilege escalation vectors depending on the exact mechanism. The core technical flaw stems from an exported component that lacks appropriate permission restrictions, effectively creating a bridge between privileged system-level operations and untrusted third-party applications. In the Android operating system architecture, components such as activities, services, broadcast receivers, and content providers can be declared as exported in the application manifest to allow interaction with other apps. However, when these components are exposed without enforcing strict permission checks or signature-based verification, they become accessible to any installed application on the device regardless of its trust level. This architectural oversight allows malicious actors to invoke system-level functions that were intended solely for internal use by the operating system or trusted vendor applications.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant because it enables an attacker with minimal privileges, such as a standard third-party app, to revoke runtime permissions from other installed applications. Runtime permissions in Android are designed to protect user privacy and device integrity by requiring explicit consent before apps can access sensitive data like contacts, location, or camera feeds. By exploiting the exported component, an adversary can programmatically strip these permissions from victim applications without their knowledge or consent. This action effectively disables critical functionalities for legitimate users, leading to a denial of service condition where essential features cease to operate correctly. Furthermore, this manipulation undermines the security boundary between apps, potentially causing data inconsistency or application crashes as they attempt to access resources that have been abruptly revoked by an external entity rather than through normal user interaction or system policy updates.
From a broader security perspective, this flaw represents a failure in enforcing least privilege principles and proper component isolation. It allows for potential lateral movement within the device ecosystem if combined with other vulnerabilities, although its primary immediate effect is the disruption of service and privacy controls. The ability to revoke permissions remotely means that attackers can silently degrade the functionality of banking apps, messaging platforms, or security tools without triggering obvious alarms, making detection difficult for end-users who may simply perceive their devices as malfunctioning rather than under attack. This type of vulnerability highlights the risks associated with vendor-specific modifications to the Android framework where rigorous testing and adherence to Google’s recommended security practices are not consistently applied during development cycles.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate patching by Motorola to restrict the exported component's accessibility. The most effective remediation involves setting android:exported="false" for any internal components that do not require external interaction, or if export is necessary, enforcing a custom permission via android:permission attribute so that only apps signed with the same certificate as the system application can invoke it. Additionally, implementing signature-level checks within the component's code provides an extra layer of verification to ensure that incoming calls originate from trusted sources. For users unable to update immediately, restricting app installation permissions and avoiding sideloading unknown applications reduces the attack surface by limiting which apps have the ability to interact with system components. Regular security audits focusing on manifest configurations and runtime permission handling are essential to prevent similar privilege escalation or denial of service vulnerabilities in future software releases.