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Mdm9625 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2015-9135

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-04-18
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 Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear MDM9625, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9645, MSM8909W, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 808, and SD 810, in a QTEE syscall handler, an untrusted pointer dereference can occur.

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 confidence

An untrusted pointer dereference vulnerability exists in the QTEE (Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment) syscall handler within the kernel of multiple Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear processors. This memory safety flaw in the TEE subsystem could allow an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution or privilege escalation by leveraging the trusted execution environment.

MitigationApply the Android security patch level from 2018-04-05 or later, which includes the fix for this QTEE syscall handler vulnerability on affected Qualcomm Snapdragon devices. Users should check with their device OEM for available security 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
Mdm9625 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9635m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9640 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9645 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8909w FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 210 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 212 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 205 FirmwareOperating 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. Identify the device chipset model
    Check /proc/cpuinfo or /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpuinfo for the processor identifier. On Android, you can also use 'getprop ro.hardware' or 'cat /proc/cmdline' to find the SoC model.
    Affected if The chipset matches one of the following: Qualcomm Mdm9625, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, Mdm9645, Msm8909w, Sd 210, Sd 212, or Sd 205
  2. Verify the specific firmware version
    Query the baseband or modem firmware version via 'getprop gsm.version.baseband' or check the TEE daemon version if accessible through /tee or /vendor/tee directory.
    Affected if Any firmware version is present on the affected chipset models listed in step 1 (all versions are vulnerable)
  3. Confirm TEE subsystem presence
    Check for the presence of the Trusted Execution Environment by looking for /tee or /vendor/tee directories, or by checking if the TEE driver is loaded via 'lsmod' or /sys/kernel/debug/tee directory.
    Affected if The TEE subsystem is present and active on the device (required for the vulnerable code path to exist)
  4. Check kernel TEE driver for the vulnerable syscall handler
    Examine the compiled kernel for the QTEE syscall handler code if you have root access: search for 'qtee' or 'QTEE' references in /proc/kallsyms or the kernel image. This requires kernel debug symbols or source access.
    Affected if The QTEE syscall handler code exists in the running kernel (indicating the vulnerable component is present)

A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (Mdm9625, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, Mdm9645, Msm8909w, Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205) and has the TEE subsystem enabled, regardless of firmware version.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply the Android security patch level from 2018-04-05 or later, which includes the fix for this QTEE syscall handler vulnerability on affected Qualcomm Snapdragon devices. Users should check with their device OEM for available security updates.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android Security Patch Level 2018-04-05 or later (contact device manufacturer for specific update)

  1. Check your current Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Android security patch level
  2. If the patch level is earlier than April 5, 2018, your device is vulnerable
  3. Update your device to the latest available Android security update from your device manufacturer
  4. For devices that no longer receive updates from the manufacturer, consider replacing the device with a model currently supported
  5. If a manufacturer update is available, install all pending system updates
Caveat Older devices (SD 210/212/205) may no longer receive security updates from manufacturers and may need to be replaced

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Mdm9625 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,320
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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-2015-9135 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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