CVE-2018-5891
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 · uneditedWhile processing modem SSR after IMS is registered, the IMS data daemon is restarted but the ipc_dataHandle is no longer available. Consequently, the DPL thread frees the internal memory for dataDHandle but the local variable pointer is not updated which can lead to a Use After Free condition in Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear.
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 Use After Free vulnerability exists in the IMS data daemon on Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear. When the daemon restarts during modem SSR after IMS registration, the ipc_dataHandle becomes unavailable. The DPL thread frees the internal memory for dataDHandle but fails to update the local variable pointer, allowing the freed memory to be accessed again.
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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/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 chipset modelCheck the device chipset/processor model via system information (e.g., /proc/cpuinfo, Settings > About Phone, or AT command via terminal)Affected if The chipset matches one of the following: Msm8909w, Msm8996au, Sd 210, Sd 212, Sd 205, Sd 450, Sd 615, or Sd 616
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Confirm IMS functionality is enabledCheck if the device supports and has enabled IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) - this can be verified through Settings > Mobile Networks > IMS status, or by checking for ims daemon processes running on the systemAffected if IMS is enabled and the IMS data daemon is running on the device
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Verify modem SSR behaviorObserve the device behavior during modem restarts or network re-registrations - the vulnerability triggers when the IMS data daemon restarts during modem SSR (Subsystem Restart) after IMS registrationAffected if The device experiences IMS service disruption or crash during modem SSR events after IMS registration has occurred
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Check for use-after-free symptomsMonitor system logs (logcat, dmesg) for memory corruption or daemon crash patterns related to the IMS data daemon, particularly errors mentioning ipc_dataHandle or dataDHandleAffected if Logs show memory access errors or daemon crashes in the IMS data daemon matching the described use-after-free pattern
A device is affected if it uses one of the listed Qualcomm chipsets and has IMS functionality enabled, as the vulnerability exists in the IMS data daemon when it restarts during modem SSR after IMS registration.
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 patch from Qualcomm to address the Use After Free in the IMS data daemon. This is a firmware-level fix requiring OEM/device manufacturer coordination.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing10.0 h
- Review / QA6.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-5891 — 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-2018-5891 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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