CVE-2025-48631
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Android's LocalImageResolver component allows remote attackers to cause persistent denial of service through resource exhaustion without user interaction. It affects Android devices running vulnerable versions, potentially rendering them unresponsive or unstable. No special privileges are required for exploitation.
💻 Affected Systems
- Android
📦 What is this software?
Android by Google
Android by Google
Android by Google
Android by Google
Android by Google
Android by Google
Android by Google
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Device becomes completely unresponsive, requiring factory reset to recover functionality, with potential data loss and extended downtime.
Likely Case
Device experiences significant performance degradation, app crashes, and temporary unresponsiveness until resource exhaustion is resolved.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and monitoring, potentially causing temporary service disruption to affected apps only.
🎯 Exploit Status
No user interaction required; remote exploitation possible via crafted image data triggering resource exhaustion in header decoding.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Check Android Security Bulletin December 2025 for specific patched versions
Vendor Advisory: https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2025-12-01
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check Android Security Bulletin December 2025 for applicable patches. 2. Apply Android security updates via Settings > System > System Update. 3. Reboot device after update installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Network Filtering
allBlock or filter incoming image data that could trigger the vulnerability at network perimeter
App Restrictions
androidRestrict apps from processing untrusted image sources via Android app permissions
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate vulnerable devices from untrusted networks
- Deploy monitoring for abnormal resource consumption patterns and implement rate limiting
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Android version and security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Android VersionCheck Version:
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patchVerify Fix Applied:
Verify security patch level includes December 2025 or later updates📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Abnormal memory consumption patterns
- Repeated LocalImageResolver crashes
- System watchdog triggers
Network Indicators:
- Unusual image data patterns to Android devices
- Spike in network traffic to vulnerable ports
SIEM Query:
source="android_system" AND (event="memory_exhaustion" OR process="LocalImageResolver" AND status="crash")