CVE-2019-9278
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in libexif allows an attacker to trigger an integer overflow leading to out-of-bounds write. When exploited, it could enable remote privilege escalation in Android's media content provider without requiring additional permissions, though user interaction is needed. It affects Android 10 devices.
💻 Affected Systems
- Android
📦 What is this software?
Android by Google
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Fedora by Fedoraproject
Leap by Opensuse
Ubuntu Linux by Canonical
Ubuntu Linux by Canonical
Ubuntu Linux by Canonical
Ubuntu Linux by Canonical
Ubuntu Linux by Canonical
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to full device compromise, data theft, or persistent malware installation.
Likely Case
Application crash (denial of service) or limited data corruption in media processing apps.
If Mitigated
No impact if patched or if exploit attempts are blocked by security controls.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit requires user to open a crafted image; public proof-of-concept exists in security advisories.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Android security patch level 2019-11-05 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2019-11-01
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check for Android system updates in Settings. 2. Install the November 2019 security patch or later. 3. Reboot the device after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic media processing
androidPrevent automatic parsing of image metadata by third-party apps.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict image file handling to trusted apps only.
- Use network filtering to block malicious image downloads.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Android security patch level in Settings > About phone > Android security patch level. If earlier than 2019-11-05, device is vulnerable.Check Version:
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patchVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm security patch level is 2019-11-05 or later.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Crash logs from media provider or libexif-related processes
- Unexpected image file processing errors
Network Indicators:
- Downloads of suspicious image files with unusual metadata
SIEM Query:
source="android_logs" AND (process="media" OR process="libexif") AND event="crash"🔗 References
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00000.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00017.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/10/25/17
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/10/27/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/11/07/1
- https://github.com/libexif/libexif/commit/75aa73267fdb1e0ebfbc00369e7312bac43d0566
- https://github.com/libexif/libexif/issues/26
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00007.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MO2VTHD7OLPJDCJBHKUQTBAHZOBBCF6X/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VA5BPQLOFXIZOOJHBYDU635Z5KLUMTDD/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Feb/9
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-05
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/android-10
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4277-1/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4618
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-03/msg00000.html
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2020-06/msg00017.html
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/10/25/17
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/10/27/1
- http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2019/11/07/1
- https://github.com/libexif/libexif/commit/75aa73267fdb1e0ebfbc00369e7312bac43d0566
- https://github.com/libexif/libexif/issues/26
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/02/msg00007.html
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/MO2VTHD7OLPJDCJBHKUQTBAHZOBBCF6X/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VA5BPQLOFXIZOOJHBYDU635Z5KLUMTDD/
- https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Feb/9
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202007-05
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/android-10
- https://usn.ubuntu.com/4277-1/
- https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4618
