CVE-2014-9790
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 · unediteddrivers/mmc/core/debugfs.c in the Qualcomm components in Android before 2016-07-05 on Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) devices does not validate pointers used in read and write operations, which allows attackers to gain privileges via a crafted application, aka Android internal bug 28769136 and Qualcomm internal bug CR545716.
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 confidenceThe vulnerability exists in drivers/mmc/core/debugfs.c within Qualcomm components for Android. The code fails to validate pointers used in read and write operations through the debugfs interface, allowing a malicious application to potentially read/write to arbitrary memory locations and escalate privileges.
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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Check Android versionGo to Settings > About Phone > Android version, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.release' via ADB shellAffected if Version is 6.0.1 or earlier (6.0, 5.1, 5.0, etc.)
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Verify device uses Qualcomm chipsetRun 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'getprop ro.board.platform' via ADB shell, or check /proc/cpuinfo for Snapdragon chipset identifiersAffected if Device contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor (this vulnerability exists in Qualcomm mmc driver code)
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Confirm debugfs is mountedRun 'mount | grep debugfs' or check if /sys/kernel/debug exists and is accessible via ADB shellAffected if debugfs is mounted and accessible (the vulnerable code path resides in debugfs interface)
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Check for mmc debugfs entriesList contents of /sys/kernel/debug/mmc/ via ADB shell if debugfs is accessibleAffected if MMC debugfs directory exists with read/write files (these are the vulnerable entry points)
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Verify kernel is unpatchedCompare your kernel version against vendor patch dates; for Nexus 5/7 (2013), check if security patch level is after July 2016 via 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch'Affected if Security patch level is July 2016 or earlier, indicating the pointer validation fix is not applied
Device is affected if running Android 6.0.1 or earlier on a Qualcomm chipset with accessible debugfs and unpatched kernel (pre-July 2016 security update).
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 vendor patch released after 2016-07-05 for affected Nexus 5 and 7 (2013) devices, which adds proper pointer validation in the mmc debugfs read/write handlers.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 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 $6,656.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-9790 — 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-2014-9790 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
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