CVE-2016-2420 Privilege escalation in n/a

What is CVE-2016-2420?

CVE-2016-2420 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Android, published on 18 Apr 2016. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

Official description

rootdir/init.rc in Android 4.x before 4.4.4 does not ensure that the /data/tombstones directory exists for the Debuggerd component, which allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka internal bug 26403620.

Weakness: CWE-264

Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-2420?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Google Android.

How do I fix CVE-2016-2420?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-2420 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2016-2420 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-2420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Other vulnerabilities in Google Android

• CVE-2026-58704 Google Pixel Improper Authorization Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2025-48543 Android Runtime Use-After-Free Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2023-35674 Android Framework Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.8
• CVE-2025-48595 Android Framework Integer Overflow Exploited High 8.4
• CVE-2024-32896 Android Pixel Privilege Escalation Exploited High 8.1

All Google Android vulnerabilities

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as GHSA-rfhf-5q7r-g3p6, UBUNTU-CVE-2016-2420.