CVE-2017-15862
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, in wma_unified_link_radio_stats_event_handler(), the number of radio channels coming from firmware is not properly validated, potentially leading to an integer overflow vulnerability followed by a buffer overflow.
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 confidenceIn the wma_unified_link_radio_stats_event_handler() function within Qualcomm's Android Linux kernel (CAF builds), the number of radio channels received from firmware is not validated before use in memory operations. This allows a specially crafted firmware message to trigger an integer overflow on the channel count, which then leads to a buffer overflow when allocating or accessing memory based on that overflowed value.
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
- 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 your kernel versionRun 'uname -r' or check /proc/version to retrieve the running kernel version stringAffected if The kernel version is a Qualcomm CAF (Code Aurora Forum) build and falls within the unpatched version range for this CVE
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Confirm Qualcomm Wi-Fi driver is in useCheck for the wma driver module by running 'lsmod | grep wma' or examining kernel config for CONFIG_WLAN_FEATURE_WMAAffected if The wma (Wireless Media Access) driver module is loaded, indicating Qualcomm's Wi-Fi driver is active
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Verify the vulnerable function existsSearch for the symbol 'wma_unified_link_radio_stats_event_handler' in /proc/kallsyms or the kernel imageAffected if The function symbol is present in the kernel, indicating the vulnerable code path exists
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Check for the integer overflow conditionInspect the wma driver source or binary for bounds checking on the radio channel count parameter in the link_radio_stats_event_handler functionAffected if No validation exists on the channel count value before it is used in memory allocation or access operations, creating potential for integer overflow and buffer overflow
You are affected if your Android device runs a Qualcomm CAF kernel build with the wma Wi-Fi driver and the channel count validation patch has not been applied to the wma_unified_link_radio_stats_event_handler function.
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-supplied kernel security patch from Qualcomm/Google Android to add proper bounds validation on the radio channel count before using it in memory allocations. Until the patch is available, monitor for anomalous Wi-Fi driver behavior.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing12.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-15862 — 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-2017-15862 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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