CVE-2023-21278

In multiple locations, there is a possible way to obscure the microphone privacy indicator due to a logic error in the code. This could lead to local escalation of privilege with no additional execution privileges needed. User interaction is not needed for exploitation.

Published: 2023-08-14 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-21278 is rated Low Risk (13.4/100): CVSS Low severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.08%). Mandatory action: Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-21278

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.04% 0.08% +0.04%
2 2023-08-22 0.06% 0.04% -0.02%
3 2023-08-15 0.06%

Full EPSS history (3 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-21278

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
3.3 3.1 LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8 1.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-21278

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-21278

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
google android 12.0 cpe:2.3:o:google:android:12.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
google android 12.1 cpe:2.3:o:google:android:12.1:-:*:*:*:*:*:*
google android 13.0 cpe:2.3:o:google:android:13.0:-:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-21278

cvelogic Threat Intelligence