# CVE-2023-20835: Use after free in MT6895, MT6983, MT8188, MT8195, MT8395, MT8781

> A race condition in MediaTek camera subsystem allows local attackers with system privileges to achieve privilege escalation via use-after-free.

- **Severity:** Medium 6.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** An administrator
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 4 Sep 2023
- **Updated:** 21 Oct 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-h64c-gqh4-8rr8

## What is CVE-2023-20835?

CVE-2023-20835 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Google Android, published on 4 Sep 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In camsys, there is a possible use after free due to a race condition. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with System execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS07341261; Issue ID: ALPS07326570.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free), CWE-362 (Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-20835?

It affects 3 products.


Products: Google Android, Linuxfoundation Yocto, Mediatek Iot Yocto.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-20835?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-20835 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-20835 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20835 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Google Android

- [CVE-2026-58704](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-58704/): Google Pixel Improper Authorization (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-48543](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48543/): Android Runtime Use-After-Free (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2023-35674](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-35674/): Android Framework Privilege Escalation (high 8.8, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2025-48595](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-48595/): Android Framework Integer Overflow (high 8.4, exploited in the wild)
- [CVE-2024-32896](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32896/): Android Pixel Privilege Escalation (high 8.1, exploited in the wild)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-20835 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-20835 is a medium-severity use after free vulnerability in Google Android, published on 4 Sep 2023. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-20835 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Google Android. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20835/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20835/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-20835
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-20835
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-20835

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-20835/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.