Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-9423 is an Android media parsing flaw that can crash affected devices or processes when a user interacts with crafted content. The reported business impact is denial of service, not data theft or code execution. User interaction is required, and the source bundle does not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority mobile hygiene issue. It can disrupt availability on affected Android devices, but the provided evidence does not indicate confidentiality impact, integrity impact, privilege escalation, or active exploitation.
Technical view
The flaw is a CWE-125 out-of-bounds read in Android's ihevcd_parse_slice_header function, caused by a missing bounds check. CVSS 3.1 is 5.5 with local attack vector, low complexity, no privileges, required user interaction, unchanged scope, and high availability impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most relevant to Android devices running listed affected versions: 7, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8, and 8.1. Organizations with unmanaged or unsupported Android fleets are more likely to have residual exposure.
Exploitation context
The record says exploitation needs user interaction and no additional execution privileges. KEV status is false, and the provided sources do not claim active exploitation or public weaponization.
Researcher notes
Focus review on Android HEVC media parsing and the missing bounds check in ihevcd_parse_slice_header.c. The source bundle identifies DoS from out-of-bounds read, but does not provide patch diff detail, exploit evidence, or broader product scope.
Mitigation direction
- Check Android or Pixel vendor guidance for CVE-2018-9423 remediation details.
- Apply applicable Android security updates to affected and supported devices.
- Retire or isolate unsupported Android 7 through 8.1 devices where updates are unavailable.
- Use MDM policy to enforce minimum Android security patch levels.
- Limit use of untrusted media files on legacy Android devices.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Android devices and identify versions 7, 7.1.1, 7.1.2, 8, and 8.1.
- Confirm each device's Android security patch level through MDM or device settings.
- Check vulnerability management results for CVE-2018-9423 against Android assets.
- Review mobile crash telemetry for recurring media decoder failures on legacy devices.
- Document exceptions for devices that cannot receive vendor updates.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-125: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2018-9423 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H1.83.6Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://source.android.com/docs/security/bulletin/pixel/2018-07-01CVE reference
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Out-of-bounds Read
Out-of-bounds Read represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.