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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2019-14061

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-03-05
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Null-pointer dereference can occur while accessing the segment element info when it is not allocated and assigned in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables in APQ8009, APQ8017, APQ8053, APQ8064, APQ8096AU, APQ8098, MDM9206, MDM9207C, MDM9607, MSM8905, MSM8909W, MSM8917, MSM8920, MSM8937, MSM8939, MSM8940, MSM8953, MSM8996, MSM8996AU, Nicobar, QCS405, QCS605, QM215, Rennell, Saipan, SDA660, SDA845, SDM429, SDM429W, SDM439, SDM450, SDM630, SDM632, SDM636, SDM660, SDM670, SDM710, SDM845, SDX20, SM6150, SM7150, SM8150, SM8250, SXR1130, SXR2130

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

A null-pointer dereference vulnerability exists in Snapdragon chipset firmware where segment element info is accessed without proper allocation or assignment validation. When the code attempts to access uninitialized segment element information, it dereferences a null pointer, potentially causing denial of service or enabling arbitrary code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware security patches from Qualcomm or device manufacturers. Until patches are available, implement input validation and bounds checking in code paths accessing segment element data to prevent null dereferences.

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
Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8064 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8098 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9207c 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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
    On Android devices, check /proc/cpuinfo or go to Settings > About Phone > Chipset/Processor information. On embedded devices, check the board documentation or boot logs for the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset identifier.
    Affected if The chipset model matches Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064, Apq8096au, Apq8098, Mdm9206, or Mdm9207c.
  2. Confirm firmware version
    Access the device firmware/version information through the device settings (About Phone > Software Information > Build Number), boot logs, or the modem firmware version via AT commands (*#9999# or through diagnostic tools). Record the exact firmware version string.
    Affected if The device runs any firmware version on the affected chipsets listed above, as all versions are vulnerable.
  3. Identify segment element processing usage
    Determine if the device uses multimedia segmentation, video processing, or location segmentation features. This may be evident from active processes, running services related to video encoding/decoding, or GPS/location subsystems that utilize segment-based data structures.
    Affected if The device actively utilizes code paths that process segment element information, which would trigger the vulnerable null-pointer dereference.
  4. Check for firmware update availability
    Check device manufacturer support pages, carrier firmware updates, or Qualcomm reference firmware releases for security patch availability for this specific CVE.
    Affected if No vendor-supplied security patch addressing CVE-2019-14061 has been applied to the device firmware.

You are affected if your device contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064, Apq8096au, Apq8098, Mdm9206, Mdm9207c) and the vendor security patch for this CVE has not been applied.

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 security patches from Qualcomm or device manufacturers. Until patches are available, implement input validation and bounds checking in code paths accessing segment element data to prevent null dereferences.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
36.0 hours of engineering $6,160
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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-2019-14061 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