Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2016-8450
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 · uneditedAn elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Qualcomm sound driver could enable a local malicious application to execute arbitrary code within the context of the kernel. This issue is rated as High because it first requires compromising a privileged process. Product: Android. Versions: Kernel-3.10. Android ID: A-32450563. References: QC-CR#880388.
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 confidenceElevation of privilege vulnerability in the Qualcomm sound driver for Android kernel-3.10. A local malicious application can execute arbitrary code within kernel context after first compromising a privileged process, allowing complete system compromise.
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
Linux KernelOperating system
= 3.10CVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/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 kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or 'cat /proc/version' to obtain the exact kernel version numberAffected if The kernel version is exactly 3.10 (not 3.10.x, but the literal 3.10 string)
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Verify this is an Android kernelCheck '/proc/version' or 'uname -a' output for Android-specific identifiers or check if the system is an Android deviceAffected if The system is running an Android kernel-3.10 build
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Confirm the presence of Qualcomm sound driverCheck for the presence of sound driver modules in /proc/modules or check /sys/module/ for Qualcomm audio modules (such as 'snd_soc_msm' or similar Qualcomm audio module names)Affected if A Qualcomm audio/sound driver module is loaded on the system
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Check for privileged sound driver accessExamine if the sound driver allows access from less privileged processes by checking the driver permissions in /sys/class/sound/ or /dev/snd/Affected if The Qualcomm sound driver is accessible to non-privileged user processes
A system is affected if it runs exactly kernel version 3.10 (Android variant) with a Qualcomm sound driver present, allowing a local attacker who has already compromised a privileged process to escalate to kernel context.
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 vendor security patches for Android; update to a patched kernel version that addresses the Qualcomm sound driver vulnerability (QC-CR#880388).
Fix this in Linux Kernel
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation16.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,072.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-8450 — 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-2016-8450 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
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