CVE-2016-10451
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 · uneditedIn Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9650, MSM8909W, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 625, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 808, SD 810, SD 820, SD 835, and SDX20, privilege escalation may occur due to inherently insecure treatment of local files.
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 confidenceLocal privilege escalation vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets due to insecure file handling in Android. The vulnerability allows a local attacker to potentially gain elevated system privileges through improper treatment of local files in the chipset firmware/layers.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the Qualcomm chipset modelCheck the device specifications or system information to determine the exact Qualcomm chipset (e.g., Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Msm8909w, Sd 210, Sd 212)Affected if The chipset model matches any of the following: Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Msm8909w, Sd 210, or Sd 212
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Check the firmware versionRetrieve the firmware version information from the device settings or through system commands (such as `getprop` on Android)Affected if The device is running any firmware version on the listed affected chipsets, as all versions of these specific models are vulnerable
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Verify Android security patch levelCheck the Android security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or use `getprop ro.build.version.security_patch`Affected if The security patch level is earlier than April 5, 2018, indicating the device has not received the addressing update
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Confirm local file handling exposureReview whether the device allows local applications or processes to access or manipulate system files in vulnerable locations within the chipset firmware layersAffected if Local applications have elevated file access capabilities that could be exploited for privilege escalation on affected chipset firmware
The device is likely affected if it uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models with firmware versions that have not been updated, combined with an Android security patch level earlier than April 5, 2018.
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 Android security patch level from April 5, 2018 or later, or obtain OEM firmware updates that address this Qualcomm-specific vulnerability.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,856.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-10451 — 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-2016-10451 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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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.
- 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
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