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Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2015-9208

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 IPQ4019, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9645, MSM8909W, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 800, and SD 810, the function tzbsp_pil_verify_sig() does not strictly check that the pointer to ELF and program headers and hash segment is within secure memory. It only checks that the address is not in non-secure memory. A given address range can overlap with both secure and non-secure regions - hence if such an address is passed in, it would not pass the non-secure range check, and would be considered valid by the function, even though that memory area could be modified by the non-secure side.

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

In Qualcomm Snapdragon TrustZone (TZ) bootstrap, the function tzbsp_pil_verify_sig() performs an incomplete bounds check when validating pointers to ELF headers and hash segments. It only verifies addresses are not in non-secure memory rather than confirming they reside entirely within secure memory, allowing address ranges that overlap both secure and non-secure regions to pass validation and potentially be manipulated from the non-secure world.

MitigationApply the Android security patch level from April 2018 or later, which contains the corrected TrustZone firmware from Qualcomm that properly validates memory pointers are within secure boundaries.

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
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4019 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

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 chipset model
    Check the device or system information to determine the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset (e.g., via 'getprop' on Android, or system/kernel logs, or hardware documentation)
    Affected if The chipset is one of: Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Ipq4019, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, Mdm9645, Msm8909w, orSd 210
  2. Check the Android security patch level
    On Android devices, run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to retrieve the installed patch level
    Affected if The patch level is earlier than April 2018 (i.e., 2018-04-01 or earlier) or the property is not set
  3. Check TrustZone status
    Verify TrustZone is enabled on the device. On supported devices, check via 'getprop ro.trustonic.version' or 'getprop ro.trustzone.version', or check /vendor/firmware/ for TZ-related files
    Affected if TrustZone is enabled (which is default on affected chipsets) and the firmware version is unpatched
  4. Verify the TZ bootstrap firmware version
    If you have access to the firmware image, check the tzbsp_pil_verify_sig() function behavior or compare the TZ firmware version against Qualcomm's patched releases from April 2018
    Affected if The TZ firmware version predates the April 2018 patch or cannot be verified as patched

A user is affected if their device uses one of the listed Qualcomm chipsets and the TrustZone firmware has not been updated to include the April 2018 security patch that corrects the bounds checking in tzbsp_pil_verify_sig().

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 April 2018 or later, which contains the corrected TrustZone firmware from Qualcomm that properly validates memory pointers are within secure boundaries.

Recommended fix High confidence

Android devices with April 2018 security patch level (2018-04-05) or later; Qualcomm chipset firmware updates integrated through device manufacturer OTA updates

  1. 1. Identify the current Android security patch level on the affected device by going to Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
  2. 2. Verify if the device is running Android security patch level from April 5, 2018 or later (2018-04-05)
  3. 3. If the device has an available system update, download and install the latest Android security update
  4. 4. After updating, confirm the security patch level shows April 2018 or later in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level
  5. 5. If no update is available from the device manufacturer, consider upgrading to a newer device that receives regular security updates
Caveat Some older devices may no longer receive security updates from manufacturers; older Qualcomm chipsets (SD 210, SD 212, SD 205, SD 400, SD 800, SD 810) may have limited or no ongoing security support

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

Fix this in Mdm9206 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,840
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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-2015-9208 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