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Ipq8074 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-11820

MEDIUM · 5.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-02-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Use of non-time constant memcmp function creates side channel that leaks information and leads to cryptographic issues in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in versions IPQ8074, MDM9150, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9640, MDM9650, MDM9655, MSM8996AU, QCA8081, QCS605, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 427, SD 430, SD 435, SD 439 / SD 429, SD 450, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 625, SD 632, SD 636, SD 650/52, SD 712 / SD 710 / SD 670, SD 800, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845 / SD 850, SD 8CX, SDA660, SDM439, SDM630, SDM660, Snapdragon_High_Med_2016, SXR1130.

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

The vulnerability involves using a non-time constant memcmp function which creates a timing side channel. An attacker can potentially leak information about secret data (such as cryptographic keys or passwords) by measuring the time it takes for the comparison to fail at different positions in the memory being compared.

MitigationReplace the non-time constant memcmp with a constant-time comparison function (e.g., timing-safe comparison) to prevent timing side-channel information leakage. Apply vendor patches for the affected Snapdragon chipsets.

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
Ipq8074 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9150 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
Mdm9655 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8996au 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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

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

  1. Identify your Qualcomm chipset model
    Check your device documentation, bootloader output, or system information to determine the exact Snapdragon/Ipq chipset model (e.g., Ipq8074, Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Mdm9655, Msm8996au)
    Affected if Your device uses any of the listed chipset models (all versions are affected)
  2. Verify firmware version
    Check the installed firmware version through device settings, boot logs, /proc/version, or vendor tooling. Compare against the affected product list.
    Affected if The firmware corresponds to any of the listed Qualcomm chipset families (all versions are affected)
  3. Search firmware for non-constant-time memcmp usage
    Extract firmware binary or obtain source code. Use disassembly or grep tools to search for memcmp function calls that handle sensitive data (keys, passwords, tokens) without timing-safe wrappers. Look for patterns where memcmp is called directly on cryptographic material.
    Affected if Your firmware contains memcmp calls operating on secrets without constant-time alternatives
  4. Inspect custom cryptographic code
    Review any custom or third-party code added to the firmware. Check for implementations of comparison functions (memcmp, strcmp, strncmp) used on secrets that do not use timing-safe alternatives like crypto_verify_mac or constant-time comparison routines.
    Affected if Custom code uses non-constant-time comparison on secret data
  5. Test for timing side-channel in authentication
    If possible, perform timing measurements on authentication or verification operations. Send repeated requests with variations and measure response times to detect whether early-exit behavior exists in comparison logic.
    Affected if Timing measurements show measurable differences correlated with secret byte values (early exit on first mismatch)

You are affected if your device uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Ipq8074, Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Mdm9655, Msm8996au) with any firmware version, since the vulnerability exists in the base implementation.

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

Replace the non-time constant memcmp with a constant-time comparison function (e.g., timing-safe comparison) to prevent timing side-channel information leakage. Apply vendor patches for the affected Snapdragon chipsets.

Fix this in Ipq8074 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2018-11820 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