CVE-2020-11135
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 · uneditedu'Reachable assertion when wrong data size is returned by parser for ape clips' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile in APQ8098, Kamorta, MSM8917, MSM8953, Nicobar, QCM2150, QCS605, QM215, Rennell, SA6155P, SA8155P, Saipan, SDM429, SDM439, SDM450, SDM630, SDM632, SDM636, SDM660, SDM670, SDM710, 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 confidenceA reachable assertion vulnerability exists in the APE audio clip parser within Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. When the parser returns an incorrect data size for APE clips, an assertion is triggered that causes the system to fail, resulting in a denial-of-service condition. This affects multiple Snapdragon platform variants across automotive, consumer IoT, industrial IoT, and mobile device categories.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the device chipset modelOn Android devices, check /proc/cpuinfo for 'Hardware' or 'model' fields, or go to Settings > About Phone > Chipset/Processor information. For IoT/embedded devices, consult the device specifications or manufacturer's documentation.Affected if The chipset matches one of the affected models: Apq8098, Kamorta, Msm8917, Msm8953, Nicobar, Qcm2150, Qcs605, or Qm215
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Determine the firmware versionCheck the baseband or modem firmware version on the device. On Android, go to Settings > About Phone > Baseband version, or use 'getprop' commands in ADB shell for ro.build.version.baseband, ro.nxp.bsp.version, or similar system properties.Affected if The firmware version is present and matches one of the affected product names listed (any version of Apq8098, Kamorta, Msm8917, Msm8953, Nicobar, Qcm2150, Qcs605, or Qm215 firmware)
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Check if APE audio parsing is availableVerify if the device supports APE audio format. Check the media codecs available on the device using 'adb shell media codec list' or by attempting to play an APE file. Also inspect /system/etc/media_codecs.xml or similar codec configuration files.Affected if APE audio decoding/parsing is enabled and available on the device
A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipset variants (Apq8098, Kamorta, Msm8917, Msm8953, Nicobar, Qcm2150, Qcs605, or Qm215) and supports APE audio parsing, since the assertion triggers when parsing a malformed APE file.
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-provided firmware patches from Qualcomm and ensure device manufacturers have deployed the updated baseband/processor firmware. Since this is a firmware-level vulnerability in the chipset itself, end users cannot mitigate directly and must await OEM updates.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation40.0 h
- Testing24.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11135 — 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-2020-11135 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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