Msm8909w FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2017-18313

MEDIUM · 5.3 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 →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
No privileges 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
Under certain mode of operations, HLOS may be able get direct or indirect access through DXE channels to tamper with the authenticated WCNSS firmware stored in DDR because DXE-accessible memory is located within the authenticated image in Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear in version MSM8909W, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617.

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

DXE-accessible memory overlaps with authenticated WCNSS firmware storage in DDR, allowing HLOS through DXE channels to potentially tamper with the authenticated firmware. This bypasses the firmware authentication mechanism in affected Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear chipsets.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware patches from Qualcomm and ensure secure boot chain properly isolates authenticated firmware regions from DXE-accessible memory.

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
Msm8909w FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 210 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 212 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 205 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 410 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 412 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 615 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 616 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
Adjacent
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

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 chipset model
    Check device specifications or use system information tools (e.g., 'lspci' on Linux, or check /proc/cpuinfo on Android) to identify the Qualcomm Snapdragon or MSM chipset model
    Affected if The chipset matches one of the affected models: Msm8909w, Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205, Sd 410, Sd 412, Sd 615, or Sd 616
  2. Check firmware version
    Query the device or system for WCNSS firmware version using vendor-specific tools or check system logs for WCNSS firmware loading information
    Affected if The firmware version is present and the device uses an affected chipset (all versions of these chipsets are affected per the advisory)
  3. Verify memory region isolation
    Examine firmware memory maps or debug outputs to check if DXE-accessible memory regions overlap with WCNSS authenticated firmware storage in DDR. This typically requires vendor firmware analysis tools or access to firmware dumps
    Affected if DXE-accessible memory overlaps with or can access the WCNSS firmware storage region in DDR memory
  4. Check secure boot configuration
    Verify if secure boot is enabled and properly isolating authenticated firmware regions. On affected devices, check secure boot status via bootloader information or vendor-provided security settings
    Affected if Secure boot is not properly isolating authenticated firmware regions from DXE-accessible memory, or secure boot verification is bypassed

The device is affected if it uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models (Msm8909w, Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205, Sd 410, Sd 412, Sd 615, Sd 616) since all firmware versions of these chipsets are vulnerable to memory overlap between DXE and authenticated WCNSS firmware storage.

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-supplied firmware patches from Qualcomm and ensure secure boot chain properly isolates authenticated firmware regions from DXE-accessible memory.

Fix this in Msm8909w Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,200
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-18313 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2017-18313 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