Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-9424 is a high-severity Android flaw in a cryptographic component. A malicious local app or local actor with low privileges could potentially gain higher privileges without user interaction. The provided sources identify Android 8 and 8.1 as affected.
Executive priority
Treat this as a legacy-device risk. It is high impact but local-only, so urgency is greatest where Android 8 or 8.1 devices remain in production or handle sensitive data.
Technical view
The issue is an out-of-bounds write in CryptoPlugin::decrypt in CryptoPlugin.cpp caused by a missing bounds check. It is classified as CWE-787 and scored CVSS 7.8: local attack vector, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on legacy Android 8 and 8.1 devices that have not received the relevant Android security updates from Google or the device OEM.
Exploitation context
The sources do not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation is local, requires some low-privileged execution context, and does not require user interaction once that context exists.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record and Android bulletin reference. Do not assume remote exploitation or public exploit availability from the provided sources. Focus research on patch status, fleet prevalence, and vendor build lineage.
Mitigation direction
- Identify Android 8 and 8.1 devices in managed and unmanaged fleets.
- Apply Google or OEM updates addressing the July 2018 Android Security Bulletin.
- Check vendor guidance for device-specific patched builds and support status.
- Retire, replace, or tightly restrict devices that cannot receive vendor updates.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Android OS versions and security patch levels across device fleets.
- Confirm affected devices have a patch level covering the July 2018 bulletin.
- Review EMM or MDM records for unsupported Android 8 and 8.1 devices.
- Prioritize validation on devices allowing third-party or unmanaged application installation.
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-787: 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-2018-9424 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/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 Write
Out-of-bounds Write represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.