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Mdm9150 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2018-5911

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-06-14
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
Buffer overflow in WLAN function due to improper check of buffer size before copying in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile in MDM9150, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9640, MDM9650, MSM8996AU, QCS605, SD 625, SD 636, SD 675, SD 712 / SD 710 / SD 670, SD 730, SD 820A, SD 855, SDM630, SDM660, SDX20, SDX24

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in the WLAN function of multiple Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset families due to missing bounds validation before memory copy operations. The improper check of buffer size allows potential memory corruption, which could enable arbitrary code execution or denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware/driver security updates for affected Snapdragon devices. This is a low-level firmware issue requiring patching at the WLAN driver level.

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
Mdm9150 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9640 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9650 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8996au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcs605 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sd 625 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:3.0/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify the chipset model
    Check system information or bootloader/firmware identifiers. On Linux, try: cat /proc/cpuinfo or check /sys/firmware/devicetree/base/model. On Android, check /system/build.prop or use 'getprop' commands. Look for model identifiers such as Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Msm8996au, Qcs605, or Sd 625.
    Affected if The chipset matches any of the listed models (Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Msm8996au, Qcs605, Sd 625)
  2. Determine WLAN firmware version
    Query the WLAN driver or firmware subsystem. On Linux, check output from 'iw list', 'wpa_supplicant -v', or examine /var/log/messages for firmware loading messages. Look for firmware version strings associated with the WLAN interface.
    Affected if The WLAN firmware version cannot be determined or is running on any version of the affected chipsets
  3. Verify WLAN interface is active
    Check if a wireless interface exists and is enabled. Run 'ip link show' or 'iw dev' to list wireless interfaces. Use 'ip link set <interface> up' to test if the interface can be brought up, or check if NetworkManager shows WLAN as available.
    Affected if A WLAN interface is present and can be activated, meaning the vulnerable WLAN function is accessible on the system
  4. Confirm firmware is stock or unmodified
    Review firmware integrity if possible. Check whether the WLAN firmware has been modified from the vendor original. This may require access to firmware versioning APIs or secure boot status.
    Affected if The device is running stock vendor firmware without custom security patches for this vulnerability

If the device uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models (Mdm9150, Mdm9206, Mdm9607, Mdm9640, Mdm9650, Msm8996au, Qcs605, Sd 625) and has an active WLAN function, the environment is affected since all firmware versions of these chipsets are vulnerable.

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

Apply vendor-supplied firmware/driver security updates for affected Snapdragon devices. This is a low-level firmware issue requiring patching at the WLAN driver level.

Fix this in Mdm9150 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
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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-2018-5911 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