CVE-2025-22416 is an elevation of privilege vulnerability affecting Google Android versions 13, 14, and 15. The vulnerability arises in the onCreate method of ChooserActivity.java, where a confused deputy problem allows an attacker to view other users' images on the device. This vulnerability does not require any additional execution privileges or user interaction to exploit, meaning an attacker with local access to the device can leverage this flaw to escalate their privileges. The core issue is that the ChooserActivity component improperly handles permissions or access control, enabling unauthorized access to sensitive user data, specifically images belonging to other users on the same device. Since Android devices often support multiple user profiles, this vulnerability could allow a malicious local user or a malicious app running under a less privileged user profile to access images from other users without proper authorization. The lack of required user interaction and no need for additional privileges significantly lowers the barrier to exploitation. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability's presence in recent Android versions (13-15) means a large number of devices could be affected. The absence of a CVSS score indicates that the vulnerability is newly published and has not yet been fully assessed for severity by the CVSS scoring system.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-22416 can be significant, especially for enterprises and government agencies that use Android devices with multiple user profiles or shared devices. Unauthorized access to images can lead to privacy violations, potential leakage of sensitive or confidential information, and compromise of personal or corporate data. This could result in reputational damage, regulatory non-compliance (e.g., GDPR violations due to unauthorized data access), and potential legal consequences. The vulnerability could also be exploited in targeted attacks against employees or contractors who use Android devices for work, enabling lateral movement or data exfiltration within corporate environments. Since exploitation does not require user interaction, attackers could deploy malicious apps or scripts that silently escalate privileges and access protected data. The impact on device integrity and confidentiality is high, although availability is less likely to be affected. Given the widespread use of Android devices in Europe, including in critical infrastructure and public sector organizations, this vulnerability poses a tangible risk to data security and privacy.

To mitigate CVE-2025-22416, organizations should prioritize the following actions: 1) Apply official security patches from Google as soon as they become available for affected Android versions (13, 14, and 15). 2) Enforce strict device management policies that limit installation of untrusted or third-party applications, especially those requesting access to media or file system resources. 3) Use Mobile Device Management (MDM) solutions to monitor and restrict multi-user profile configurations, minimizing the risk of unauthorized local access. 4) Educate users about the risks of installing apps from unknown sources and encourage the use of Google Play Protect or similar security services. 5) Implement application whitelisting and privilege separation to reduce the attack surface on Android devices. 6) Conduct regular audits of device configurations and access logs to detect suspicious activities related to media access. 7) For organizations with BYOD policies, enforce minimum OS version requirements and ensure devices are updated promptly. 8) Consider disabling or restricting multi-user functionality on corporate devices if not required, to reduce the risk of cross-user data leakage.