CVE-2017-13178 Use after free in Android

What is CVE-2017-13178?

CVE-2017-13178 is a critical use after free vulnerability in Google Android, published on 12 Jan 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

In the initDecoder function of SoftAVCDec, there is a possible out-of-bounds write to mCodecCtx due to a use after free when buffer allocation fails. This could lead to remote code execution as a privileged process with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Product: Android. Versions: 6.0.1, 7.0, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8.0, 8.1. Android ID: A-66969281.

Weakness: CWE-787, CWE-416

Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-13178?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Google Android.

How do I fix CVE-2017-13178?

No fix has been published for CVE-2017-13178 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.

Is CVE-2017-13178 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-13178 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-qq3g-xr36-vj77.