VulnerabilityPublished 2 Feb 2026Updated 30 Mar 2026

CVE-2026-20411: MediaTek chipset · Use After Free

Affects MediaTek chipsetSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 17:16 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

7.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 0% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 2 Feb 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 26 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
MediaTek, Inc.MediaTek chipset	Affected MT6878 – MT8793 24 affected builds	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2026-20411 effectively, organizations should prioritize the following actions: 1) Monitor MediaTek and device vendor advisories closely and apply patches or firmware updates as soon as they become available to address the use-after-free flaw. 2) Restrict and monitor access to system-level privileges rigorously to prevent attackers from obtaining the necessary conditions for exploitation. 3) Employ runtime protections such as memory corruption mitigations (e.g., heap protections, use-after-free detection) where supported by the device OS or firmware. 4) Implement strict application whitelisting and integrity checks on critical system components to detect unauthorized modifications. 5) Conduct regular security audits and penetration testing focusing on privilege escalation vectors within devices using affected MediaTek chipsets. 6) For high-security environments, consider network segmentation and device isolation to limit the impact of compromised devices. 7) Educate users and administrators about the risks of privilege escalation vulnerabilities and the importance of timely updates. These measures, combined with vendor patches, will reduce the likelihood and impact of exploitation.

Description

In cameraisp, there is a possible escalation of privilege due to use after free. This could lead to local denial of service if a malicious actor has already obtained the System privilege. User interaction is not needed for exploitation. Patch ID: ALPS10351676; Issue ID: MSV-5737.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2026-20411 is significant for organizations relying on MediaTek-based devices, especially in mobile and embedded environments. An attacker with system-level access can exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges further or cause local denial of service, potentially disrupting critical device functions such as camera operations. This can lead to loss of confidentiality if sensitive data processed by the cameraisp is exposed, integrity violations through unauthorized code execution or memory corruption, and availability issues due to device crashes or reboots. For enterprises deploying MediaTek-powered devices in sensitive environments, this vulnerability could facilitate lateral movement, persistence, or sabotage by malicious insiders or advanced persistent threats. Although exploitation requires prior system privileges, the vulnerability increases the attack surface post-compromise, complicating incident response and remediation efforts. The broad range of affected chipset models means a large installed base is at risk, amplifying the potential scale of impact globally.

Summary

CVE-2026-20411 is a use-after-free vulnerability classified under CWE-416 found in the cameraisp component of MediaTek chipsets. The issue arises when memory is freed but subsequently accessed, leading to undefined behavior that can be exploited to escalate privileges locally or cause a denial of service. The vulnerability affects numerous MediaTek chipset models, including MT6878, MT6886, MT6895, MT6983, MT8168, MT8195, MT8395, and others, which are widely used in smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices. Exploitation does not require user interaction but does require the attacker to have already obtained System-level privileges, indicating that this vulnerability is a post-compromise escalation vector rather than an initial entry point. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 7.8, reflecting high severity due to the potential for full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact (C:H/I:H/A:H). While no public exploits are known at this time, the vulnerability could be leveraged by advanced threat actors to maintain persistence or disrupt device functionality. The vulnerability was reserved in November 2025 and published in February 2026. The vulnerability's scope is local, requiring low attack complexity and no user interaction, but the prerequisite of system privileges limits its exploitation to scenarios where the attacker already controls the device at a high level.

CWE-416Use After Free (opens in a new tab)
Variant weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #7
The product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.
Architecture and Design · Language Selection
Choose a language that provides automatic memory management.
Implementation · Attack Surface Reduction
When freeing pointers, be sure to set them to NULL once they are freed. However, the utilization of multiple or complex data structures may lower the usefulness of this strategy.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
Mass Assignment (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.4 (opens in a new tab)
V5.1.3 (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

corp.mediatek.com/product-security-bulletin/February-2026 (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 30 Mar 2026, 19:33 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-416

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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