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Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-11994

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2018-11-28
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
SMMU secure camera logic allows secure camera controllers to access HLOS memory during session in Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear in versions MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MSM8996AU, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 625, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845, SD 850, SDA660, SDA845, SDX24, 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 · moderate confidence

SMMU (System Memory Management Unit) secure camera logic in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets contains an IOMMU configuration flaw allowing secure camera controllers to access HLOS (High-Level Operating System) memory during active sessions. This represents a privilege escalation vulnerability where secure hardware can read/write memory belonging to the main OS, bypassing the intended security boundary.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates from Qualcomm for affected chipset versions; device manufacturers must integrate and distribute these patches to end users. No application-level workarounds exist for this hardware/firmware vulnerability.

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
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9650 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8996au 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 425 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 in the device
    Check /proc/cpuinfo or use 'cat /sys/devices/soc0/soc_id' to read the chipset identifier. On Android devices, also check 'getprop ro.board.platform' or 'getprop ro.hardware'
    Affected if The chipset model matches one of these: Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9650, Msm8996au,Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205, or Sd 425
  2. Determine the firmware version of the affected chipset
    Check the modem or system firmware version through 'cat /proc/firmware_version' or vendor-specific diagnostic tools. On Android, use 'getprop' commands like 'getprop gsm.version.baseband' or check /vendor/firmware/
    Affected if The firmware version is any version on an affected chipset - all versions of the listed chipsets are vulnerable
  3. Verify if the secure camera feature is in use
    Check if the device has an active camera subsystem by reviewing system logs for 'secure camera' or 'SMMU' related entries. Inspect /sys/kernel/debug/iommu/ if accessible to see SMMU mappings
    Affected if The device utilizes the secure camera subsystem with active camera sessions - the flaw specifically affects secure camera controller memory access during active sessions
  4. Confirm the IOMMU/SMMU configuration
    Examine IOMMU group assignments via 'cat /sys/kernel/debug/iommu/groups/*/devices' or check for SMMU driver information in kernel logs using 'dmesg | grep -i smmu'
    Affected if The device shows SMMU/IOMMU mappings that include both secure camera hardware and HLOS memory regions in the same IOMMU domain, indicating the misconfiguration is present

A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9650, Msm8996au, Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205, Sd 425) with any firmware version, particularly when the secure camera subsystem is active and the SMMU allows cross-domain memory access.

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 updates from Qualcomm for affected chipset versions; device manufacturers must integrate and distribute these patches to end users. No application-level workarounds exist for this hardware/firmware vulnerability.

Fix this in Mdm9206 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,360
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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-2018-11994 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
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