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Ipq4019 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-13906

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-06-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
The HMAC authenticating the message from QSEE is vulnerable to timing side channel analysis leading to potentially forged application message 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, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in IPQ4019, IPQ8074, MDM9150, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9650, MDM9655, MSM8909W, MSM8996AU, QCA8081, QCS405, QCS605, Qualcomm 215, 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 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845 / SD 850, SD 855, SD 8CX, SDA660, SDM439, SDM630, SDM660, SDX20, 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 · moderate confidence

The HMAC implementation authenticating messages from QSEE (Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment) contains a timing side-channel vulnerability. Attackers can exploit timing differences in HMAC verification to potentially derive the authentication key and forge application messages, compromising the trusted execution environment's integrity.

MitigationApply Qualcomm-provided firmware/security patches that implement constant-time HMAC comparison. Coordinate with device OEMs for applicable platform updates across all affected Snapdragon product lines.

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
Ipq4019 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq8074 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9150 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9635m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9640 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9650 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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 the Qualcomm chipset model
    Check the device hardware specifications, bootloader identification, or run commands such as 'cat /proc/cpuinfo', 'cat /proc/device-tree/model', or check the kernel boot logs for Qualcomm chip identifiers like ipq4019, ipq8074, mdm9150, mdm9206, mdm9607, mdm9635m, mdm9640, or mdm9650
    Affected if The chipset matches any of the following: Ipq4019, Ipq8074, Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, or Mdm9650
  2. Determine the firmware version
    Retrieve the firmware version from the device via commands like 'cat /proc/version', 'cat /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/model', or through vendor-specific interfaces such as 'at' commands on modems or administrative web interfaces
    Affected if Any firmware version is installed on an affected chipset (all versions are vulnerable)
  3. Confirm QSEE is in use
    Verify the device uses Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment by checking for QSEE-related kernel modules, trust zone implementations, or documentation indicating use of Qualcomm's TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) based on the Snapdragon or Qualcomm chipsets listed
    Affected if The device implements QSEE/TEE functionality, which is standard on all listed Qualcomm chipsets

A user is affected if their device contains any of the eight listed Qualcomm chipsets (Ipq4019, Ipq8074, Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9635m, Mdm9640, Mdm9650) running any firmware version, as all such configurations have the timing side-channel vulnerability in the QSEE HMAC 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

Apply Qualcomm-provided firmware/security patches that implement constant-time HMAC comparison. Coordinate with device OEMs for applicable platform updates across all affected Snapdragon product lines.

Fix this in Ipq4019 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation12.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
60.0 hours of engineering $10,560
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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-2018-13906 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