dbcve.org
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-11998

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-01-18
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
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
While processing a packet decode request in MQTT, Race condition can occur leading to an out-of-bounds access in snapdragon mobile and snapdragon wear in versions MDM9206, MDM9607, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 427, SD 435, SD 450, SD 625, SD 636, SD 835, SDA660, SDM630, SDM660, 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 race condition exists in the MQTT packet decode processing within specific Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. When processing incoming MQTT packets, the race condition can cause an out-of-bounds memory access, potentially allowing memory corruption or information disclosure. The vulnerability affects MDM9206, MDM9607, SD 210/212/205, SD 427, SD 435, SD 450, SD 625, SD 636, SD 835, SDA660, SDM630, SDM660, and Snapdragon_High_Med_2016 variants.

MitigationThis is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring a patch from Qualcomm that must be distributed through device manufacturers. Organizations should inventory affected devices, contact device vendors for firmware updates, and consider network-based MQTT traffic filtering as a temporary compensating control until patches are available.

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
Sd 210 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 212 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 205 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 427 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 435 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 450 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/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 chipset model
    Determine the exact Qualcomm Snapdragon or Snapdragon-based modem chipset model used in the device. This may be found in device specifications, firmware documentation, or by querying the device's system information or baseband version.
    Affected if The chipset matches one of the affected variants: MDM9206, MDM9607, SD 210, SD 212, SD 205, SD 427, SD 435, SD 450, SD 625, SD 636, SD 835, SDA660, SDM630, SDM660, or Snapdragon_High_Med_2016.
  2. Confirm MQTT protocol is in use
    Verify whether the device or its firmware is configured to use the MQTT protocol. Check MQTT client or broker configurations, or inspect network traffic for MQTT connections (typically on port 1883 or 8883 for TLS).
    Affected if MQTT client or broker functionality is enabled and actively used by the device.
  3. Check the firmware version
    Query the device or its documentation for the installed firmware version. For modems, this may be displayed via AT commands or in the baseband firmware information.
    Affected if The firmware version corresponds to any version of the affected chipsets listed.
  4. Inventory device deployment
    Create or consult an inventory of all IoT, modem, or embedded devices in the environment to identify any that contain the listed Snapdragon variants.
    Affected if Any deployed devices are found to contain the affected chipset models.

The environment is affected if any devices using the listed Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets have MQTT protocol enabled, since all firmware versions of these chipsets contain the vulnerability.

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

This is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring a patch from Qualcomm that must be distributed through device manufacturers. Organizations should inventory affected devices, contact device vendors for firmware updates, and consider network-based MQTT traffic filtering as a temporary compensating control until patches are available.

Fix this in Mdm9206 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,480
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,168.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-11998 — 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-2018-11998 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