Linux KernelOperating system · Linux
CVE-2017-0438
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 Wi-Fi 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, Kernel-3.18. Android ID: A-32402604. References: QC-CR#1092497.
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 · moderate confidenceThis is an elevation of privilege vulnerability in the Qualcomm Wi-Fi driver for Android. A local malicious application that has already compromised a privileged process can exploit this flaw to execute arbitrary code within the kernel context, effectively gaining kernel-level privileges on the affected device.
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
= 3.10= 3.18<= 7.1.1CVSS 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 -a' or read /proc/version to determine the running Linux kernel versionAffected if The kernel version is exactly 3.10 or exactly 3.18
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Identify the Android versionCheck the Android OS version in Settings > About Phone or read /system/build.prop for the ro.build.version.release propertyAffected if The Android version is 7.1.1 or earlier
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Confirm the device uses a Qualcomm Wi-Fi chipsetCheck the hardware specifications or Wi-Fi chipset information for the device; Qualcomm Wi-Fi drivers are typically present on devices with Qualcomm processorsAffected if The device incorporates a Qualcomm Wi-Fi driver component (common on Qualcomm Snapdragon devices)
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Check the installed Android security patch levelLook for the security patch level in Settings > About Phone > Security patch level or read /system/build.prop for ro.build.version.security_patchAffected if The security patch level is earlier than the vendor patch for CVE-2017-0438 (typically February 2017 or earlier)
A device is affected if it runs Linux Kernel 3.10 or 3.18 with Android 7.1.1 or earlier on hardware utilizing the Qualcomm Wi-Fi driver, and lacks the vendor security patch for this vulnerability.
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 the vendor-provided security patch from Qualcomm/Google for Android (A-32402604) to affected devices running Kernel-3.10 or Kernel-3.18. This is a kernel-level driver patch requiring a system update rather than an application-level fix.
Fix this in Linux Kernel
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing20.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $11,904.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-0438 — 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-2017-0438 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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