CVE-2016-5872
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 all Qualcomm products with Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel, arguments to several QTEE syscalls are not properly validated.
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 confidenceThis vulnerability stems from missing input validation on QTEE (Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment) syscalls in the Linux kernel used by Qualcomm processors in Android devices from CAF (Code Aurora Forum). The lack of proper argument validation could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or escalate privileges within the trusted execution environment, potentially bypassing security 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 dataall 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the processor architectureCheck /proc/cpuinfo or use 'getprop ro.hardware' to determine if the device uses a Qualcomm processor. This vulnerability affects only Qualcomm-based devices with QTEE.Affected if The device does not use a Qualcomm processor - this vulnerability is specific to Qualcomm's Trusted Execution Environment
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Check the Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level or use 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to see the installed patch date.Affected if The Security Patch Level is earlier than June 2016, as this CVE was disclosed in mid-2016 and patches were released starting then
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Verify the kernel versionCheck the kernel version with 'uname -r' or through /proc/version. This vulnerability exists in Linux kernel components related to QTEE syscalls.Affected if The kernel version predates the June 2016 security patches containing the fix for this input validation issue
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Confirm TEE is present and activeCheck for TEE-related services or files in /tee or /vendor/tee, or use 'dmesg' to look for QTEE or tee driver initialization messages.Affected if The device has an active QTEE (Qualcomm Trusted Execution Environment) - the vulnerability only affects devices with this component enabled
A user is affected if they are running an Android device with a Qualcomm processor that has a pre-June-2016 security patch level and has QTEE enabled in the kernel.
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 patches released by device OEMs/carriers - this is a firmware-level issue requiring vendor-provided updates; no application-level mitigation is possible.
- Consultation40.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $12,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-5872 — 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-2016-5872 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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- 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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