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Sd 410 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2015-9162

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 SD 410/12, SD 617, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 808, and SD 810, in the function "Certificate_CreateWithBuffer" in the QSEE app TQS, in case of memory allocation failure, we free the memory and return the pointer without setting it to NULL.

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

Memory management vulnerability in the QSEE trusted application's Certificate_CreateWithBuffer function where, upon memory allocation failure, the code frees memory and returns the pointer without setting it to NULL, creating a potential use-after-free or NULL pointer dereference condition that could be exploited for code execution in the secure execution environment.

MitigationApply the Android security patch level released 2018-04-05 or later to affected devices; this is a firmware-level issue requiring vendor-provided updates for Snapdragon SD 410/12, SD 617, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 808, and SD 810 chipsets.

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
Sd 410 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 412 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 617 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 650 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 652 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 800 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 808 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 810 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 Snapdragon chipset model
    Check /proc/cpuinfo or settings > about phone > model/hardware information to determine if the device uses SD 410, SD 412, SD 617, SD 650, SD 652, SD 800, SD 808, or SD 810
    Affected if The device uses any of these Snapdragon variants (SD 410, 412, 617, 650, 652, 800, 808, or 810)
  2. Check the baseband firmware version
    View the baseband version in settings > about phone > baseband version or via *#*#4636#*#* > phone information
    Affected if The baseband firmware is from any version on the affected chipsets - all versions are impacted
  3. Verify the Android security patch level
    Go to settings > about phone > android security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB
    Affected if The security patch level is earlier than April 5, 2018 (2018-04-05)
  4. Check for vendor firmware updates
    Contact the device manufacturer or check their support website for available firmware updates addressing this QSEE vulnerability
    Affected if No vendor firmware update has been applied that includes the CVE-2015-9162 fix

A user is affected if their device contains a Snapdragon SD 410/412/617/650/652/800/808/810 chipset and the Android security patch level is earlier than April 5, 2018, as the vulnerability exists in the QSEE trusted application firmware for these chipsets.

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 released 2018-04-05 or later to affected devices; this is a firmware-level issue requiring vendor-provided updates for Snapdragon SD 410/12, SD 617, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 808, and SD 810 chipsets.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android security update with patch level 2018-04-05 or later (contact OEM for specific build numbers)

  1. Check current Android security patch level on the device (Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level)
  2. Contact the device manufacturer (OEM) to obtain an Android system update with security patch level April 2018 (2018-04-05) or later
  3. Apply the OEM-provided system update to patch the vulnerable QSEE app TQS function (Certificate_CreateWithBuffer)
Caveat OEM updates may have compatibility or functionality changes; ensure device backup before updating

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

Fix this in Sd 410 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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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-2015-9162 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