CVE-2025-22433
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows an attacker to bypass cross-profile intent filters in Android's Work Profile feature, enabling local privilege escalation without user interaction. It affects Android devices using Work Profile functionality, potentially allowing malicious apps to access restricted data or perform unauthorized actions across profile boundaries.
💻 Affected Systems
- Android
📦 What is this software?
Android by Google
Android by Google
Android by Google
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of Work Profile isolation, allowing malicious apps to access corporate data, install additional payloads, or perform actions with elevated privileges across profile boundaries.
Likely Case
Limited data exfiltration from Work Profile to personal profile, or unauthorized actions within the Work Profile context by malicious personal apps.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact if proper app vetting and mobile device management controls are in place to detect and block malicious applications.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires a malicious app to be installed on the device, but no user interaction or special permissions are needed once installed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: April 2025 Android Security Patch or later
Vendor Advisory: https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2025-04-01
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check for Android system updates in Settings > System > System update. 2. Install the April 2025 security patch or later. 3. Restart the device after installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Work Profile
androidRemove Work Profile functionality to eliminate the attack surface
Settings > Accounts > Work Profile > Remove work profile
Restrict App Installations
allUse mobile device management (MDM) to block installation of unknown apps
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict app vetting policies to prevent installation of potentially malicious applications
- Use mobile threat defense solutions to detect and block exploitation attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Android security patch level in Settings > About phone > Android version > Android security updateCheck Version:
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patchVerify Fix Applied:
Verify security patch date is April 2025 or later in Settings > About phone📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual intent forwarding between profiles
- Suspicious ActivityManager or PackageManager logs showing cross-profile access
Network Indicators:
- Unusual data transfers that might indicate Work Profile data exfiltration
SIEM Query:
source="android_logs" AND ("IntentForwarderActivity" OR "canForward") AND action="bypass"