CVE-2017-0742

Vulnerability

A elevation of privilege vulnerability exists in the MediaTek video driver within the Android kernel. The issue is due to insufficient input validation in the driver's IOCTL handling, which could be abused by a local attacker with user-level access. Affected versions: Android kernel (as shipped on devices using MediaTek SoCs). The vulnerability is identified in the Android Security Bulletin for August 2017 (Android ID: A-36074857, M-ALPS03275524)[1].

Exploitation

An attacker must have local access to the device and the ability to execute a crafted application. No additional permissions or user interaction are required beyond installing and running the malicious app. The attacker sends specially crafted IOCTL commands to the vulnerable MediaTek video driver, triggering the insufficient validation and leading to memory corruption[1].

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to gain elevated privileges (root or system-level access) within the kernel context. This results in full compromise of the device's confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The attacker can execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, bypassing Android's sandbox and permission model[1].

Mitigation

The fix was included in the Android Security Bulletin level of 2017-08-05 (August 2017). Devices that received the Android update or a MediaTek-specific patch are protected. Users should apply the latest security update from their device manufacturer. No workaround is available if the patch is not applied[1].