Nmap, short for Network Mapper, is a free and open source tool used for vulnerability checking, port scanning and, of course, network mapping. 

 

When installed with high privilege levels NMap can create exploitable issues within linux kernel systems such as Android.

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This was possible in the original release of Android in particular.

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Once a low level shell has been obtained, attackers can use this exploit to escalate their privileges to those NMap has, often resulting in root access.