AndroidOperating system · Google

CVE-2015-9069

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2017-08-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
In all Qualcomm products with Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel, the Secure File System can become corrupted.

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 · moderate confidence

The Secure File System (SFS) in Qualcomm Android implementations using the Linux kernel from Code Aurora Forum (CAF) is vulnerable to corruption. This appears to be a data integrity issue within the SFS component, potentially stemming from improper synchronization, bounds checking, or state management in the kernel-level secure storage implementation.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied security patches for CVE-2015-9069, which typically involve updating the baseband/LTE firmware and kernel image on affected Qualcomm-based Android devices. Users should verify with their device manufacturers for available updates.

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
AndroidOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm Qualcomm chipset usage
    Check /proc/cpuinfo or system settings for 'Qualcomm' or 'Snapdragon' processor information. Alternatively, use 'getprop' command and check 'ro.hardware' or 'ro.board.platform' properties for Qualcomm identifiers.
    Affected if The device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon or other Qualcomm processor, indicating it likely runs a CAF kernel with SFS component.
  2. Verify Code Aurora Forum (CAF) kernel source
    Check the kernel version string via 'uname -a' or 'cat /proc/version'. Look for 'CAF', 'CodeAurora', or Qualcomm-specific kernel build information in the version details.
    Affected if The kernel is built from Code Aurora Forum sources, which is the source of the vulnerable SFS component.
  3. Identify SFS (Secure File System) presence
    Check for SFS-related kernel configuration or modules. Look in /proc/config.gz (if available) for CONFIG_SFS or similar, or check /sys/module/ for any 'sfs' or 'securefs' modules. Also check dmesg for SFS-related messages.
    Affected if The SFS kernel module or configuration is present, meaning the vulnerable secure storage component is enabled on the device.
  4. Check baseband/firmware version
    Use 'getprop' to check 'gsm.version.baseband' or 'ril.baseband.version' properties. Qualcomm baseband firmware is tied to the SFS vulnerability.
    Affected if The device runs a Qualcomm baseband firmware, as the vulnerability exists in the secure storage implementation between baseband and kernel.

A user is affected if they run a Qualcomm-based Android device using a Code Aurora Forum kernel with the SFS secure storage component enabled, which applies to essentially all such Qualcomm Android implementations.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied security patches for CVE-2015-9069, which typically involve updating the baseband/LTE firmware and kernel image on affected Qualcomm-based Android devices. Users should verify with their device manufacturers for available updates.

Fix this in Android Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2015-9069 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2015-9069 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data