Critical MediaTek Vulnerabilities Patched in Chipsets

TL;DR

MediaTek published its November 2026 product security bulletin fixing 57 security flaws across multiple chipset architectures. The update addresses six critical MediaTek vulnerabilities in cellular modem components that allow remote privilege escalation. Device owners must install upcoming firmware updates from their smartphone manufacturers to protect their devices.

Notable CVEs

Why It Matters

MediaTek is the world’s largest mobile system-on-chip supplier by shipment volume. Industry analysts estimate that MediaTek processors power more than two billion smartphones, tablets, and smart devices worldwide. Therefore, security defects in these hardware platforms threaten a massive global user base.

Smartphones and cellular IoT gateways function in unpredictable radio environments. A flaw inside baseband processing allows silent exploitation without alerting the operating system. As a result, attackers can target mobile subscribers simply by establishing radio contact.

Unpatched hardware weaknesses allow adversaries to compromise connected devices at low system layers. According to the official MediaTek Product Security Bulletin for November 2026, the vendor notified device manufacturers two months before publication. Furthermore, MediaTek stated that it is not aware of any active exploitation of these vulnerabilities in the wild. In addition, independent security researchers have not released any public proof-of-concept exploit code.

How the Attack Works

Critical Modem Flaws Enable Remote Escalation

The bulletin resolves six critical MediaTek vulnerabilities affecting the cellular modem firmware. These flaws comprise CVE-2026-20499, CVE-2026-20545, CVE-2026-20546, CVE-2026-20547, CVE-2026-20548, and CVE-2026-20549.

Specifically, these weaknesses originate from improper input validation, integer overflows, and missing bounds checks in modem processing routines. An attacker operating a rogue cellular base station can transmit malformed radio frames to target devices. Consequently, this rogue signal triggers an out-of-bounds write inside the baseband processor. The exploit yields remote escalation of privilege without requiring user interaction or existing device privileges.

High and Medium Flaws in Hardware Drivers

Additionally, MediaTek patched 16 high-severity and 35 medium-severity vulnerabilities across peripheral subsystems. In the cellular modem, flaws like CVE-2026-20562 and CVE-2026-20563 allow remote denial of service through malformed network traffic. Similarly, CVE-2026-20552 introduces out-of-bounds writes within the Cross Core Communication Interface driver.

Furthermore, several flaws impact audio and display components. In the Audio Front End driver, CVE-2026-20573 through CVE-2026-20575 create memory corruption via double-free and use-after-free bugs. Attackers possessing local system privileges can exploit these driver errors to gain elevated kernel privileges. Meanwhile, GPU memory flaws in CVE-2026-20558 and CVE-2026-20559 enable local privilege escalation through memory corruption.

Moreover, satellite positioning and physical boot components also contained flaws. In the Global Navigation Satellite System module, CVE-2026-20550 and CVE-2026-20551 enable local denial of service via memory bounds errors. In the Download Agent boot tool, CVE-2026-20553 allows attackers with physical access to escalate privileges.

Affected Versions

These MediaTek vulnerabilities affect dozens of mobile, tablet, and smart device chipsets. Impacted models include flagship and mid-range series such as MT6897, MT6899, MT6983, MT6985, MT6989, MT6991, and MT6993. In addition, older Helio and automotive chipsets like MT6768, MT6789, MT2735, and MT2737 remain vulnerable until patched.

Patch and Mitigation Steps

MediaTek delivered firmware patches to original equipment manufacturers two months before public release. Because chipset fixes require integration into vendor-specific builds, device makers must compile and distribute their own firmware updates.

Therefore, users should monitor their smartphone settings for incoming system updates and install them immediately. Applying monthly Android security maintenance releases mitigates these critical MediaTek vulnerabilities across cellular and hardware drivers. In the interim, mobile users should avoid connecting to untrusted cellular equipment and rogue Wi-Fi networks.

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Written by

@DdoS · Security Researcher

Do Son

Do Son is the Founder and Editor of SecurityOnline.info. Working in cybersecurity since 2013, he reports on vulnerabilities, malware, and emerging threats, providing timely analysis to help organizations and individuals stay ahead of evolving risks.