Android · Android OS
CVE-2011-1823
Android OS Privilege Escalation Vulnerability
What it is
The vold volume manager daemon on Android 3.0 and 2.x before 2.3.4 trusts messages that are received from a PF_NETLINK socket, which allows local users to execute arbitrary code and gain root privileges via a negative index that bypasses a maximum-only signed integer check in the DirectVolume::handlePartitionAdded method, which triggers memory corruption, as demonstrated by Gingerbreak.
CISA: The vold volume manager daemon in Android kernel trusts messages from a PF_NETLINK socket, which allows an attacker to execute code and gain root privileges. This vulnerability is associated with GingerBreak and Exploit.AndroidOS.Lotoor.
What to do
Apply updates per vendor instructions.
Deadline for US federal agencies: September 29, 2022
- Added to the CISA list
- September 8, 2022
- Published
- June 9, 2011
- Severity
- High 7.8 CVSS 3.1
- Chance of attacks in the next 30 days (EPSS)
- 41% in the top 1.3% of all known vulnerabilities
- Weakness
- CWE-189
- More details
- NVD · CVE.org · CISA
All references (9)
- http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/system/netd.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=79b579c92afc08ab12c0a5788d61f2dd2934…
- http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/system/core.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=b620a0b1c7ae486e979826200e8e441605b0…
- http://c-skills.blogspot.com/2011/04/yummy-yummy-gingerbreak.html
- http://androidcommunity.com/gingerbreak-root-for-gingerbread-app-20110421/
- http://android.git.kernel.org/?p=platform/system/vold.git%3Ba=commit%3Bh=c51920c82463b240e2be0430849837d6fdc5…
- http://xorl.wordpress.com/2011/04/28/android-vold-mpartminors-signedness-issue/
- https://exchange.xforce.ibmcloud.com/vulnerabilities/67977
- http://www.androidpolice.com/2011/05/03/google-patches-gingerbreak-exploit-but-dont-worry-we-still-have-root-…
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1044765
More exploited flaws from Android
| Added | Vulnerability | Product | Severity | Attack chance |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 2, 2026 | Integer Overflow | Framework | High 8.4 | 1.9% |
| Dec 2, 2025 | Privilege Escalation | Framework | High 7.8 | 0.3% |
| Dec 2, 2025 | Information Disclosure | Framework | Medium 5.5 | 0.3% |
| Sep 4, 2025 | Use-After-Free | Runtime | High 8.8 | 0.6% |
| Nov 7, 2024 | Privilege Escalation | Framework | High 7.3 | 0.7% |
| Aug 7, 2024 | Remote Code Execution | Kernel | High 7.8 | 2.7% |
| Jun 13, 2024 | Privilege Escalation | Pixel | High 8.1 | 3.0% |
| Apr 4, 2024 | Information Disclosure | Pixel | Medium 5.5 | 0.5% |
Sources: Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (CISA, public domain), CVE records (cve.org) and EPSS (FIRST). The chance of attacks is the EPSS estimate that someone will try to exploit the flaw in the next 30 days.