CVE-2018-5838
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 · uneditedImproper Validation of Array Index In the adreno OpenGL driver in Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear, an out-of-bounds access can occur in SurfaceFlinger.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in the Qualcomm adreno OpenGL GPU driver allows improper array index validation, leading to out-of-bounds memory access in SurfaceFlinger. This buffer overflow in kernel/driver space could allow local privilege escalation or 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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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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Identify the device chipset modelCheck the device system information or use commands like `cat /proc/cpuinfo` or `getprop ro.hardware` on Android to determine the Qualcomm chipset model (e.g., Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Msm8909w, etc.)Affected if The chipset matches any of the following: Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9650, Msm8909w, Msm8996au, Sd 210, Sd 212, or Sd 205
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Verify the Qualcomm adreno GPU is presentCheck for adreno GPU by examining the GPU renderer string via `cat /sys/class/kgsl/kgsl-3d0/gpuinfo` or checking Android system properties with `getprop` for graphics driver informationAffected if The device uses a Qualcomm adreno GPU and the chipset matches the affected list in step 1
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Confirm OpenGL driver usageVerify the OpenGL ES driver is loaded by checking /proc/mounts or using `dumpsys` commands on Android to confirm the graphics stack is active, as the vulnerability exists in the OpenGL driver used by SurfaceFlingerAffected if The device runs Android with SurfaceFlinger and uses OpenGL ES for graphics compositing (this is the default on most Android devices with adreno GPUs)
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Check firmware version as secondary confirmationQuery the firmware version via `cat /sys/firmware/fw_version` or `getprop` commands for radio version, noting that ALL firmware versions of the affected chipsets are vulnerableAffected if The chipset is on the affected list AND the firmware version can be identified, confirming this specific hardware/firmware combination is vulnerable
The device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9650, Msm8909w, Msm8996au, Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205) and runs the OpenGL GPU driver in an Android SurfaceFlinger environment.
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 vendor-supplied firmware/driver updates for Snapdragon components. Contact Qualcomm or device OEMs for patch availability and coordinate OTA deployment to affected devices.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,856.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5838 — 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-2018-5838 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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