MediaTek Processor Vulnerabilities Let Attackers Escalate Privileges

Several vulnerabilities affecting MediaTek processors have been identified, potentially allowing attackers to escalate privileges on affected devices.

These vulnerabilities span multiple components, including video decoding, telephony, power management, and modem functionalities, posing significant risks to users worldwide.

Overview of Vulnerabilities

The vulnerabilities, identified by their Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVEs), highlight issues primarily related to out-of-bounds reads and writes, stack overflow, and uncaught exceptions, as a report by Mediatek.

Such flaws can lead to various security threats, including local escalation of privilege and denial of service attacks, with minimal user interaction required for exploitation.

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Table of CVEs and Details

The following table details all identified CVEs and their severity levels, vulnerability types, affected chipsets, and software versions.

CVE ID	Title	Severity	CWE ID	Affected Software Versions
CVE-2024-20125	Out-of-bounds write in vdec	High	CWE-787	Android 13.0, 14.0
CVE-2024-20129	Out-of-bounds read in Telephony	Medium	CWE-125	Android 13.0, 14.0, 15.0
CVE-2024-20128	Out-of-bounds read in Telephony	Medium	CWE-125	Android 13.0, 14.0, 15.0
CVE-2024-20127	Out-of-bounds read in Telephony	Medium	CWE-125	Android 13.0, 14.0, 15.0
CVE-2024-20130	Stack overflow in power	Medium	CWE-121	Android 14.0, 15.0
CVE-2024-20131	Out-of-bounds write in Modem	Medium	CWE-787	Modem NR16
CVE-2024-20132	Out-of-bounds write in Modem	Medium	CWE-787	Modem NR16 partial branches
CVE-2024-20133	Out-of-bounds write in Modem	Medium	CWE-787	Modem NR16
CVE-2024-20134	Out-of-bounds write in ril	Medium	CWE-787	Android 14.0, 15.0
CVE-2024-20135	Out-of-bounds write in soundtrigger	Medium	CWE-787	Android 15.0
CVE-2024-20136	Out-of-bounds read in DA	Medium	CWE-125	Android 12.0, 13.0, 14.0, 15.0, openWRT 19.07, RDK-B
CVE-2024-20137	Uncaught exception in wlan	Medium	CWE-248	SDK release 7.4.0.1, 7.6.7.2 and before
CVE-2024-20116	Out-of-bounds read in cmdq	Medium	CWE-125	Android 12.0
CVE-2024-20138	Out-of-bounds read in wlan	Medium	CWE-125	SDK release 3.3 and before
CVE-2024-20139	Reachable assertion in Bluetooth	Medium	CWE-617	Android 13.0, 14.0, openWRT 23.05

These vulnerabilities pose several significant risks:

1. Privilege Escalation: The most critical vulnerability (CVE-2024-20125) allows system-level privilege escalation without user interaction. This could enable malicious actors to gain control over crucial functions of the device.
2. Denial of Service: Multiple CVEs (e.g., CVE-2024-20129) can lead to denial of service, disrupting device operations and causing potential service interruptions.
3. Information Disclosure: Out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities may expose sensitive information, leading to privacy concerns.
4. Broad Impact: The affected chipsets include popular models such as MT6761 and MT6835, found in many devices worldwide, amplifying the potential impact.

To safeguard against these vulnerabilities, it is crucial to take the following steps:

• Prompt Updates: Device manufacturers and users should ensure that all devices are updated with the latest security patches as soon as they are available.
• Awareness and Monitoring: Organizations should monitor for any unusual activities on their networks that could indicate exploitation attempts.
• Collaborative Efforts: Security researchers, MediaTek, and device manufacturers must collaborate to develop and distribute effective patches.

The discovery of these vulnerabilities underscores the ongoing challenges in maintaining security within complex hardware and software ecosystems like those involving MediaTek processors.

Comprehensive and timely responses are essential to mitigate the risks posed and protect users from potential exploitation.

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