CVE-2016-6738 Privilege escalation in Android

What is CVE-2016-6738?

CVE-2016-6738 is a high-severity vulnerability in Google Android, published on 25 Nov 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

An elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Qualcomm crypto engine driver in Android before 2016-11-05 could enable a local malicious application to execute arbitrary code within the context of the kernel. This issue is rated as High because it first requires compromising a privileged process. Android ID: A-30034511. References: Qualcomm QC-CR#1050538.

Weakness: CWE-264

Which versions are affected by CVE-2016-6738?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Google Android.

How do I fix CVE-2016-6738?

No fix has been published for CVE-2016-6738 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Is CVE-2016-6738 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2016-6738 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-p342-c4mv-8294.