dbcve.org
Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-13916

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2019-11-21
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
Out-of-bounds memory access in Qurt kernel function when using the identifier to access Qurt kernel buffer to retrieve thread data. 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 APQ8009, APQ8017, APQ8053, APQ8096, APQ8096AU, APQ8098, IPQ8074, MDM9150, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9650, MDM9655, MSM8905, MSM8909, MSM8909W, MSM8917, MSM8920, MSM8937, MSM8940, MSM8953, MSM8976, MSM8996, MSM8996AU, MSM8998, Nicobar, QCA8081, QCM2150, QCN7605, QCS404, QCS405, QCS605, QM215, SC8180X, SDA660, SDA845, SDM429, SDM439, SDM450, SDM630, SDM632, SDM636, SDM660, SDM670, SDM710, SDM845, SDM850, SDX20, SDX55, SM8150, SM8250, Snapdragon_High_Med_2016, SXR1130, SXR2130

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

Out-of-bounds memory access vulnerability in the Qurt kernel function. The flaw occurs when using an identifier to access the Qurt kernel buffer for retrieving thread data, allowing memory access beyond allocated boundaries.

MitigationThis kernel-level flaw requires a patch from Qualcomm and subsequent firmware updates from device manufacturers. End users should apply vendor-supplied firmware updates when 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
Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8098 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq8074 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9150 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:3.1/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 or system documentation, or use commands like 'lspci', 'cat /proc/cpuinfo', or check boot logs to identify the Qualcomm APQ or IPQ chipset in use
    Affected if The chipset is one of: Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8096, Apq8096au, Apq8098, Ipq8074, or Mdm9150
  2. Determine the firmware version
    Access the device's firmware information through vendor-specific interfaces, boot logs, or system information files (often found in /proc/bootinfo, /etc/version, or via 'dmidecode' on some systems)
    Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or is any version (all versions of the listed products are affected)
  3. Verify the Qurt kernel is in use
    Check kernel or system logs for references to 'Qurt', 'qurt_kernel', or check running kernel modules for Qualcomm-specific components
    Affected if The system runs the Qurt kernel (Qualcomm's real-time kernel for Snapdragon processors)
  4. Check if thread identifier access is exposed
    Review system configuration or exposed APIs that allow access to thread data through kernel buffers; examine any user-accessible interfaces that query thread information
    Affected if There are interfaces or APIs that allow passing identifiers to retrieve thread data from the Qurt kernel

A defender is affected if their device or system uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8096, Apq8096au, Apq8098, Ipq8074, Mdm9150) and runs the Qurt kernel with accessible thread data retrieval interfaces.

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 kernel-level flaw requires a patch from Qualcomm and subsequent firmware updates from device manufacturers. End users should apply vendor-supplied firmware updates when available.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA12.0 h
60.0 hours of engineering $10,480
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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-2018-13916 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