CVE-2018-3560
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 · uneditedIn Android for MSM, Firefox OS for MSM, QRD Android, with all Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel, a Double Free vulnerability exists in Audio Driver while opening a sound compression device.
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 confidenceA double free vulnerability exists in the Audio Driver for Android on Qualcomm MSM hardware. When opening a sound compression device, the driver incorrectly frees the same memory pointer twice, leading to heap corruption and potential arbitrary code execution.
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 dataall versionsCVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm device uses Qualcomm MSM chipsetCheck the device hardware specifications or run 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' to identify the processor. Qualcomm MSM (Mobile Station Modem) is the affected platform.Affected if The device is NOT built on Qualcomm MSM hardware - the vulnerability only applies to this specific chipset architecture.
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Verify Android security patch levelGo to Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' to check the installed patch.Affected if The security patch level is earlier than the month the CVE was patched (typically 2018), indicating the vendor fix is not applied.
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Identify audio driver moduleCheck for the presence of audio driver modules in /system/lib/modules or /kernel/drivers/audio, or examine loaded modules via 'lsmod' and look for audio-related Qualcomm drivers.Affected if A Qualcomm audio driver module exists and is loaded - the vulnerability resides in this driver code.
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Confirm sound compression device accessExamine /dev/snd/ or /dev/audio* nodes, or check if sound compression device files exist. The flaw triggers when opening a sound compression device.Affected if Sound compression device nodes exist and are accessible - this is the specific trigger condition for the double-free.
The environment is affected if the device runs on Qualcomm MSM hardware with an unpatched Android version and contains an active Qualcomm audio driver handling sound compression device operations.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply the vendor-supplied kernel patch for CVE-2018-3560 to the affected audio driver code. Ensure the memory management logic properly guards against double-free conditions by validating pointer state before deallocation.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-3560 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2018-3560 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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