dbcve.org
Ipq8074 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-11847

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-02-11
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
Malicious TA can tag QSEE kernel memory and map to EL0, there by corrupting the physical memory as well it can be used to corrupt the QSEE kernel and compromise the whole TEE 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 Wearables and Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in versions IPQ8074, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MDM9655, MSM8909W, MSM8996AU, QCA8081, 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 650/52, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 8CX, SDM439 and Snapdragon_High_Med_2016

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

A vulnerability in Qualcomm's QSEE (Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment) allows a malicious Trusted Application (TA) to tag QSEE kernel memory and map it to EL0 (user space), enabling physical memory corruption and complete TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) compromise. This represents a privilege escalation from a malicious TA to the QSEE kernel, compromising the entire secure OS.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware patches from Qualcomm/OEMs that address the QSEE memory mapping vulnerability. Users should update device firmware to patched versions. Until patched, minimize trust in TEE-based security features.

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
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9650 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9655 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8909w FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8996au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca8081 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 or firmware build information to determine the chipset. Common methods include: checking /proc/cpuinfo on embedded devices, reviewing OEM hardware documentation, or inspecting boot logs for chipset identifiers such as Ipq8074, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9650, Mdm9655, Msm8909w, Msm8996au, or Qca8081.
    Affected if The device uses any of the following chipsets: Ipq8074, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9650, Mdm9655, Msm8909w, Msm8996au, or Qca8081.
  2. Verify QSEE/TEE is enabled and running
    Check if the Trusted Execution Environment is active on the device. On Linux-based firmware, this may involve checking for QSEE-related processes, examining /dev/ or /sys/ nodes related to trustzone, or reviewing kernel boot parameters for trustzone enablement. On Android devices, check for 'trust' or 'tee' in /system/build.prop or /vendor/build.prop.
    Affected if QSEE is present and operational on the device.
  3. Enumerate installed Trusted Applications
    List all Trusted Applications (TAs) loaded in the TEE. On Qualcomm-based devices, this may involve accessing QSEE debug interfaces if available, reviewing firmware image contents for TA binaries, or using OEM-provided diagnostic tools. Look for unsigned or third-party TAs that were not pre-installed by the OEM.
    Affected if Any untrusted, unsigned, or unauthorized Trusted Application is present on the device.
  4. Review TEE memory mapping configuration
    Examine whether the QSEE kernel permits memory tagging and EL0 mapping. This typically requires access to QSEE kernel debug logs or security audit reports from the device. Check if memory protection policies allow a TA to map QSEE kernel memory regions to user space (EL0).
    Affected if The TEE configuration allows QSEE kernel memory to be mapped from EL0 (user space), which is the vulnerable behavior described in this CVE.

A device is affected if it uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets, has QSEE/TEE enabled, and contains any Trusted Application (particularly untrusted or malicious ones) that could exploit the memory mapping vulnerability to escalate privileges to the QSEE kernel.

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/OEMs that address the QSEE memory mapping vulnerability. Users should update device firmware to patched versions. Until patched, minimize trust in TEE-based security features.

Fix this in Ipq8074 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $15,616.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11847 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2018-11847 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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