Security Resilience

CVE-2011-1823

Memory Safety in Google Android 2.0 – 2.3.4

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedPublic PoCMemory Safety
Published
09 June 2011
Modified
21 April 2026
KEV Added
08 September 2022
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.41 99th percentile
Risk Priority 83 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2011-1823 is a high-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) vulnerability in Google Android. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique LSA Secrets (T1003.004); ranked in the top 1% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The vulnerability is an integer overflow (CWE-190) in the vold volume manager daemon on Android 3.0 and 2.x releases prior to 2.3.4. It arises because vold trusts all messages received over a PF_NETLINK socket and performs a maximum-only bounds check on a signed integer index inside DirectVolume::handlePartitionAdded; a negative value bypasses the check and produces memory corruption.

Local users on an affected device can exploit the flaw by sending a crafted netlink message, achieving arbitrary code execution and root privileges. Publicly demonstrated proof-of-concept code such as Gingerbreak implements this attack vector.

Upstream fixes appear in the referenced Android platform commits to system/vold, system/core, and system/netd; these changes add proper validation of netlink message contents and index values. Devices must be updated to Android 2.3.4 or later, or receive the corresponding vendor patches, to close the issue.

The vulnerability saw immediate real-world exploitation through publicly released rooting tools shortly after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

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…

more

maximum-only signed integer check in the DirectVolume::handlePartitionAdded method, which triggers memory corruption, as demonstrated by Gingerbreak.

CWE(s)
CWE-190
KEV Date Added
08 September 2022

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.008 /etc/passwd and /etc/shadow Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump the contents of <code>/etc/passwd</code> and <code>/etc/shadow</code> to enable offline password cracking.
attack.mitre.org →
T1006 Direct Volume Access Stealth
Adversaries may directly access a volume to bypass file access controls and file system monitoring.
attack.mitre.org →
T1008 Fallback Channels Command And Control
Adversaries may use fallback or alternate communication channels if the primary channel is compromised or inaccessible in order to maintain reliable command and control and to avoid data transfer thresholds.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-48595Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2023-35673Same product: Google Android
CVE-2026-49885Same product: Google Android
CVE-2024-23695Same product: Google Android
CVE-2026-0039Same product: Google Android
CVE-2026-0028Same product: Google Android
CVE-2026-0052Same product: Google Android
CVE-2026-0095Same product: Google Android
CVE-2023-48409Same product: Google Android
CVE-2024-34733Same product: Google Android

Affected Assets

google
android
3.0 · 2.0 — 2.3.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

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Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly require use of safe arithmetic, bounds checks, and testing that prevent integer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.8.10 Information deletion partial match
removes

References