A proof-of-concept exploit has been unveiled for a local privilege elevation flaw affecting seven Android OEMs. Tracked as CVE-2023-45779, the flaw was discovered by Meta’s Red Team X in September 2023 and was promptly addressed in Android’s December 2023 security update. The vulnerability stems from insecure signing of APEX modules using test keys, potentially enabling attackers to deliver malicious updates and achieve local privilege elevation.
While the flaw does not pose an immediate remote threat, it exposes weaknesses in Android’s Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) and Android Open Source Project (AOSP) documentation. Google intends to address these issues in the upcoming Android 15 release. Devices with the security patch level 2023-12-05 are considered secure against CVE-2023-45779. The impacted OEMs include ASUS, Microsoft, Nokia, Nothing, VIVO, Lenovo, and Fairphone.
Meta’s Red Team X elaborates on the exploit, clarifying that the flaw typically requires physical access to the target device and expertise in using ‘adb shell’ for exploitation. Despite the exploit being available on GitHub, users are advised not to panic, as the primary intent is for research and mitigation validation. Nevertheless, the potential for the exploit to be incorporated into an exploit chain highlights the importance of keeping Android devices updated and considering newer models with active support.
