CVE-2017-9679
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, if a userspace string is not NULL-terminated, kernel memory contents can leak to system logs.
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 confidenceKernel information disclosure vulnerability in Qualcomm Android Linux kernel where a non-NULL-terminated userspace string causes adjacent kernel memory to be written to system logs, potentially exposing sensitive kernel data structures and addresses.
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
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Qualcomm chipset usageCheck /proc/cpuinfo or use 'getprop' commands to verify the device uses a Qualcomm processor. This vulnerability exists in Qualcomm kernel code, so non-Qualcomm devices are not affected.Affected if Device does not use a Qualcomm Snapdragon or other Qualcomm chipset
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Check Android versionRun 'getprop ro.build.version.release' to determine the Android version. According to the advisory, all Android versions are affected.Affected if Any Android version is installed (all versions affected per advisory)
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Examine kernel logs for memory leakageRun 'dmesg' or check /proc/kmsg for log entries that contain binary data, hex patterns, or unexpected memory addresses adjacent to string data. Look for entries that appear to contain more data than expected from the source string.Affected if Logs contain unexpected binary data, hex patterns, or memory addresses that do not match expected string content
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Inspect logcat output for anomaliesRun 'logcat -d -b all' and search for log entries where kernel-written messages contain additional unexpected data beyond the intended string. The vulnerability causes adjacent kernel memory to be appended.Affected if Log entries show unexpected data appended to userspace strings, suggesting kernel memory disclosure
A user is affected if they have a Qualcomm-based Android device and system logs contain unexpected kernel memory contents (binary data, memory addresses, or additional data beyond intended string output).
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 vendor firmware updates from Qualcomm/CAF. Until patch available, monitor system logs for unexpected kernel memory leakage and restrict sensitive data from kernel-adjacent memory regions.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,128.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2017-9679 — 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-2017-9679 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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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.
- 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
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