Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-20542 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-20542 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-20542?
- Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.7, published 5 October 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- MediaTek Dimensity; MediaTek Helio.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-20542?
- No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
- How is CVE-2026-20542 attacked?
- It is attacked with local access, in device firmware.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-20542?
- Check whether you run MediaTek Dimensity or MediaTek Helio. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
Technical details
A use-after-free vulnerability in the apusys driver allows memory corruption when freed memory is accessed. The vulnerability requires the attacker to already hold System privilege and can be triggered locally without user interaction. Successful exploitation may result in privilege escalation, information disclosure, or denial of service.
Affected products
- MediaTek Dimensity
- MediaTek Helio
Timeline
- 2026-10-05: disclosed
- 2026-10-05: advisory: MediaTek Product Security Bulletin October 2026; Patch ID ALPS11076799