CVE-2018-5820
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 Qualcomm Android for MSM, Firefox OS for MSM, and QRD Android with all Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel before security patch level 2018-04-05, in the function wma_tbttoffset_update_event_handler(), a parameter received from firmware is used to allocate memory for a local buffer and is not properly validated. This can potentially result in an integer overflow subsequently leading to a heap overwrite.
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 confidenceInteger overflow vulnerability in Qualcomm WLAN driver where a firmware-provided parameter is used directly to allocate memory in wma_tbttoffset_update_event_handler() without validation, potentially causing heap buffer overflow.
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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 Qualcomm WLAN hardware is presentCheck device specs or system information for Qualcomm WLAN adapter (often listed as Qualcomm Atheros or similar WLAN hardware in /system/build.prop or device info)Affected if Device does not have Qualcomm WLAN hardware - the flaw only affects systems with this specific hardware component
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Verify Android security patch levelCheck Android system settings under Settings > About Phone > Security patch level, or run 'getprop ro.build.version.security_patch' via ADBAffected if Patch level is earlier than 2018-04-05, meaning the validation fix has not been applied
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Identify the wma driver moduleCheck for loaded WLAN driver modules via 'lsmod' or inspect /system/lib/modules/ for wma.ko or similar Qualcomm WLAN driver filesAffected if wma driver module is loaded or present on the device (the vulnerable code path exists in this component)
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Confirm the vulnerable function existsIf driver debugging symbols are available, verify wma_tbttoffset_update_event_handler function is present in the wma driver binaryAffected if The function is present, indicating the potentially vulnerable code path exists in the installed driver
A device is affected if it contains Qualcomm WLAN hardware and has an Android security patch level earlier than 2018-04-05, as the fix was included in that patch.
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 Android security patch level 2018-04-05 or later which includes proper validation of the firmware parameter in the wma driver.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,072.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5820 — 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-2018-5820 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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- 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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