Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-43093

Google Android 12.0 … 15.0

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD Exploited
Published
13 November 2024
Modified
23 October 2025
KEV Added
07 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0071 50th percentile
Risk Priority 80 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-43093 is a high-severity Improper Handling of Unicode Encoding (CWE-176) vulnerability in Google Android. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Invisible Unicode (T1027.018); ranked in the top 50% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

CVE-2024-43093 is a vulnerability in Android's ExternalStorageProvider.java within the frameworks/base component, where the shouldHideDocument method fails to correctly apply Unicode normalization when enforcing a file path filter. This flaw allows bypass of restrictions intended to block access to sensitive directories and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.3 under CWE-176.

An attacker with local access and limited privileges can exploit the issue to reach protected paths, achieving escalation to higher privileges. Successful exploitation requires user interaction, such as an action that triggers the affected storage provider logic.

The March 2025 Android security bulletin and the associated AOSP commit provide the official remediation, which updates the normalization handling in ExternalStorageProvider. The vulnerability is also tracked in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

EPSS for the CVE rose from a low baseline to a peak of 0.0197 the day after disclosure before receding, indicating a transient but measurable increase in exploitation interest following public release.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

In shouldHideDocument of ExternalStorageProvider.java, there is a possible bypass of a file path filter designed to prevent access to sensitive directories due to incorrect unicode normalization. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed.…

more

User interaction is needed for exploitation.

CWE(s)
CWE-176
KEV Date Added
07 November 2024

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1027.018 Invisible Unicode Stealth
Adversaries may abuse invisible or non-printing Unicode characters to conceal malicious content within files, scripts, or text.
attack.mitre.org →
T1027 Obfuscated Files or Information Stealth
Adversaries may attempt to make an executable or file difficult to discover or analyze by encrypting, encoding, or otherwise obfuscating its contents on the system or in transit.
attack.mitre.org →
T1132 Data Encoding Command And Control
Adversaries may encode data to make the content of command and control traffic more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1132.002 Non-Standard Encoding Command And Control
Adversaries may encode data with a non-standard data encoding system to make the content of command and control traffic more difficult to detect.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2025-48572Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2025-48595Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2011-1823Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2025-48543Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2020-0041Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2021-1048Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2021-39793Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2024-29745Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2024-32896Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV
CVE-2025-48633Same product: Google Androidboth on KEV

Affected Assets

google
android
12.0, 12.1, 13.0, 14.0, 15.0

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match

Input validation directly requires checking and normalizing encodings so that Unicode is handled consistently before further processing.

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 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper Unicode/input validation to prevent this weakness.

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.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect Unicode-handling flaws before deployment.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development lifecycle mandates input validation and encoding handling that can prevent Unicode mishandling.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include proper handling of character encodings and input sanitization.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles require robust input processing to avoid encoding-related vulnerabilities.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly address proper Unicode and character-encoding validation.

References