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NVD / CVE Program· CNA MediaTek

CVE-2026-20506: In Audio HAL, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free.

MediumCVSS 6.7 · v3.1—No exploit No fix recorded

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 26/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.16% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. Administrator privileges are required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • According to the record, no fixed version is available yet.

Low priority for now. Update when a fix is released; follow the vendor's advisory.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

In Audio HAL, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free. This could lead to local escalation of privilege if a malicious actor has already obtained the System privilege. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS11191981; Issue ID: MSV-9126.

Published
Sep 6, 2026
Updated
Sep 8, 2026
EPSS
0.1% · 6th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

26

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
26 / 40 · 6.7 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.1%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • No fixed version yet

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2026-20506

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

—

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (MediaTek). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • MediaTek, Inc. MediaTek chipset

    • MT2718, MT6739, MT6761, MT6765, MT6768, MT6769, MT6781, MT6789, MT6833, MT6835, MT6853, MT6855 … (+28)affected

Same product

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-20565In Modem, there is a possible out of bounds write due to an incorrect bounds check.
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2026-20558In GPU pdma, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free.
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2026-20465In wlan AP driver, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check.
    32Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-20471Aug 3, 2026 · In DA, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check.
    18Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-20472Aug 3, 2026 · In TFA, there is a possible out of bounds write due to a missing bounds check.
    17Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-20507Sep 6, 2026 · In Audio HAL, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free.
    26Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-2055857 days apartIn GPU pdma, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free.
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2026-2059157 days apartIn GPU pdma, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to a missing permission check.
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2026-2055957 days apartIn GPU pdma, there is a possible memory corruption due to use after free.
    31Monitor
  • CVE-2026-205070 days apartIn Audio HAL, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free.
    26Monitor
  • CVE-2026-205110 days apartIn SurfaceFlinger, there is a possible memory corruption due to use after free.
    26Monitor
  • CVE-2026-205170 days apartIn geniezone, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free.
    26Monitor

Not on record for this CVE: patch commit or PR link · researcher credit · public bounty program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • Administrator privileges are required.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-416 · Use After Free

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Root cause

After a memory region is freed, another reference pointing to it is still used. By then, the same region may have been allocated for different data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-416 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

c
free(dev->buf);/* ... another thread is still running ... */process(dev->buf);

Fixed

c
lock(&dev->lock);free(dev->buf);dev->buf = NULL;unlock(&dev->lock);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records