Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2018-9461 is a local Android privilege issue tied to a race condition in ShareIntentActivity. A malicious local app could potentially access files associated with the messages app without user interaction. The provided sources rate it high severity, but do not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a high-priority legacy mobile patching issue, especially for managed Android fleets with sensitive communications. The business risk is local data exposure or privilege misuse by a malicious installed app, not internet-scale remote compromise based on the provided sources.
Technical view
The issue is mapped to CWE-362 and CVSS 3.1 score 7.0. The vector is local, high complexity, low privileges required, and no user interaction. The description names ShareIntentActivity.java onAttachFragment and indicates possible file access in the messages app through a race condition.
Likely exposure
Exposure appears limited to Android/Pixel environments containing the vulnerable component referenced by Google’s August 2018 Pixel bulletin. The bundle’s affected-product data is sparse and inconsistent, so teams should confirm exposure against vendor bulletins and device patch levels.
Exploitation context
The provided bundle does not identify active exploitation, and KEV is false. Exploitation would require a local low-privileged app and successful timing of a race condition. No remote or unauthenticated exploitation is supported by the provided evidence.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE record, CVE List entry, and Google Pixel bulletin reference. The affected field says Android Kernel, while the description points to Messages ShareIntentActivity behavior; validate component scope before reporting exposure broadly.
Mitigation direction
- Review Google’s August 2018 Pixel security bulletin for CVE-2018-9461 guidance.
- Apply applicable Android or Pixel security updates from Google or the device OEM.
- Restrict installation of untrusted apps on potentially affected Android devices.
- Prioritize managed devices with sensitive messaging data or broad app installation rights.
Validation and detection
- Inventory Android and Pixel devices by vendor, model, OS version, and security patch level.
- Compare device patch levels against the August 2018 Pixel security bulletin.
- Check mobile device management records for sideloading or untrusted app exposure.
- Document any devices without vendor support or missing applicable security 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-362: 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-2018-9461 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 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H15.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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/pixel/2018-08-01CVE 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.
Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition')
Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization ('Race Condition') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.