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Fsm9055 FirmwareOperating system · Qaulcomm

CVE-2017-18304

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-10-23
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
Zero-click

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 · unedited
Insufficient memory allocation in boot due to incorrect size being passed could result in out of bounds access in Small Cell SoC, Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear in version FSM9055, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9640, MDM9650, MSM8909W, MSM8996AU, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 625, SD 650/52, SD 810, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SDA660 and SDX20

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 confidence

Insufficient memory allocation in boot code due to incorrect size being passed to memory allocation functions, leading to out-of-bounds memory access. This is a buffer overflow vulnerability in the early boot firmware of Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware updates from Qualcomm and downstream device OEMs. Contact affected device manufacturers for applicable security patches.

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
Fsm9055 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9640 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9650 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8909w FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8996au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 210 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the Qualcomm chipset model
    Check the device hardware specifications, boot logs, or system information to determine if the device uses one of the affected models: Fsm9055, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Msm8909w, Msm8996au, or Sd 210. This information is typically available in /proc/cpuinfo on Linux-based embedded devices, or in the device's technical documentation or bootloader output.
    Affected if The device uses any of the listed chipset models.
  2. Locate the bootloader or boot firmware version
    Access the device's bootloader (often via serial console or by interrupting the boot process) or check boot logs for firmware version information. On some devices, this may be visible in /proc/bootinfo, /proc/version, or within UBoot environment variables.
    Affected if Unable to determine the firmware version from available system interfaces.
  3. Verify the boot firmware patch level
    Review any available security patch date or version information in the boot firmware. This may be displayed in boot loader output, in /proc/version, or accessible through device diagnostic interfaces. Compare the installed firmware version against any vendor release notes indicating fixes for this CVE.
    Affected if The boot firmware version predates the vendor security patch for CVE-2017-18304, or no patch date is visible in the firmware metadata.
  4. Check for bootloader integrity verification
    If the device supports secure boot or bootloader verification (e.g., Android Verified Boot), verify whether it is enabled and functioning. This can be checked via 'bootctl' status on Android devices, or by examining bootloader configuration for signed boot images.
    Affected if Secure boot is disabled or not implemented, allowing unmodified boot code to execute.

The device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models and is running firmware versions that have not incorporated the CVE-2017-18304 security patch.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-provided firmware updates from Qualcomm and downstream device OEMs. Contact affected device manufacturers for applicable security patches.

Fix this in Fsm9055 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation40.0 h
  • Implementation80.0 h
  • Testing60.0 h
  • Review / QA20.0 h
200.0 hours of engineering $35,000
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-18304 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data