CVE-2017-14894
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 Qualcomm Android for MSM, Firefox OS for MSM, and QRD Android with all Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel before security patch level 2018-04-05, in wma_vdev_start_resp_handler(), vdev id is received from firmware as part of WMI_VDEV_START_RESP_EVENTID. This vdev id can be greater than max bssid stored in wma handle and this would result in buffer overwrite while accessing wma_handle->interfaces[vdev_id].
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds write vulnerability in the wma_vdev_start_resp_handler() function within Qualcomm wireless drivers. The vdev ID received from firmware via WMI_VDEV_START_RESP_EVENTID is used to index the interfaces array without validating it against the maximum bssid limit, allowing a malicious or malformed firmware response to write beyond array 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
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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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Confirm device runs Google Android with a Qualcomm WiFi chipsetCheck the device's WiFi chipset information - typically available in Settings > About Phone > Hardware Info, or by running 'getprop' commands to check for Qualcomm radio/wlan properties. This vulnerability exists only in Qualcomm's wireless driver components.Affected if The device runs Android with a Qualcomm WiFi/BSS driver (not all Android devices use Qualcomm WiFi chips)
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Verify the Android security patch levelOn the device, go to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADB. This displays the date of the last security update (format: YYYY-MM-DD).Affected if The security patch level is earlier than 2018-04-05, meaning the bounds-checking fix has not been applied
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Identify the vulnerable driver moduleThe vulnerable code resides in the wma (Wireless Module Abstraction) driver component within the Qualcomm wireless firmware interface. Check for the wma.ko or similar wlan driver module via 'lsmod' or by examining /system/lib/modules/ for wlan/ath6kl/qca_cld files.Affected if The wma driver module exists and processes WMI_VDEV_START_RESP_EVENTID events from firmware without bounds validation on the vdev_id index
A user is affected if their Android device uses a Qualcomm WiFi chipset AND has a security patch level earlier than 2018-04-05, since only devices with the April 2018 or later patch contain the bounds-checking fix for the vdev_id array indexing in wma_vdev_start_resp_handler().
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 2018-04-05 security patch level or later to the affected Qualcomm Android/Firefox OS for MSM kernels, which adds proper bounds checking on the vdev_id before array access in wma_handle->interfaces.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-14894 — 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-2017-14894 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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