CVE-2014-9784
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedMultiple buffer overflows in drivers/char/diag/diag_debugfs.c in the Qualcomm components in Android before 2016-07-05 on Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) devices allow attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka Android internal bug 28442449 and Qualcomm internal bug CR585147.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceMultiple buffer overflow vulnerabilities exist in the diag_debugfs.c debugfs interface driver for Qualcomm's DIAG diagnostic subsystem in Android kernel drivers. A malicious local application can exploit these overflows to achieve privilege escalation, gaining elevated system privileges on affected devices. The vulnerability is in kernel-space code accessed through the debugfs filesystem.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 6.0.1CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Android versionCheck the Android OS version in Settings > About Phone > Android version. Alternatively, run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB or 'cat /system/build.prop | grep build.version'Affected if Android version is 6.0.1 or lower (the device falls within the affected version range)
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Confirm Qualcomm chipsetCheck device hardware/SOC information via 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' via ADB. The DIAG subsystem is specific to Qualcomm processors.Affected if Device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset (the vulnerability exists in Qualcomm's DIAG diagnostic subsystem driver)
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Verify debugfs accessibilityCheck if debugfs is mounted by running 'mount | grep debugfs' or checking if /sys/kernel/debug/ or /d/ is accessible via ADB with root privileges.Affected if debugfs is mounted and accessible to the system (the vulnerable driver is accessed through this filesystem)
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Confirm diag driver presenceCheck if the diag driver is loaded by examining '/d/diag_debugfs' directory existence or running 'ls /d/' via ADB with root privileges to list debugfs entries.Affected if The diag_debugfs interface driver is present and loaded in the kernel
Device is affected if it runs Android 6.0.1 or earlier on a Qualcomm chipset where the diag_debugfs driver is accessible through a mounted debugfs filesystem.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataApply the Android security patch level from July 5, 2016 or later, which includes the fix for this kernel driver vulnerability. For end-of-life devices that cannot receive official updates, consider device replacement or implement application sandboxing/permission controls to limit attack surface.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,352.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9784 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-9784 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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