CVE-2023-21000 — In MediaCodec

In MediaCodec.cpp, there is a possible use after free due to improper locking. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-13Android ID: A-194783

01What is this vulnerability?

In MediaCodec.cpp, there is a possible use after free due to improper locking. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.Product: AndroidVersions: Android-13Android ID: A-194783918

02Affected products

Vendor	Product	Versions
n	a / Android	Android-13

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2023-03-24T00:00:00.000Z
• Last modified: 2025-02-26T20:50:17.280Z

09References

• source.android.com — https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/pixel/2023-03-01