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Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11153

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
u'Out of bound memory access while processing GATT data received due to lack of check of pdu data length and leads to remote code execution' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile in APQ8053, QCA6390, QCA9379, QCN7605, SC8180X, SDX55

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 overread vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon Bluetooth stack when processing GATT PDU data. The lack of proper length validation on incoming GATT data allows an attacker to trigger out-of-bounds memory access, potentially achieving remote code execution with no authentication required.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates from Qualcomm and device OEMs. As this is a firmware-level flaw in the chipset, network-based mitigations are limited; consider disabling Bluetooth on affected devices until patches are available.

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
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca9379 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcn7605 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sc8180x FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sdx55 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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify the Qualcomm chipset model
    Check the device hardware specifications or use system information commands (e.g., `lspci`, `lsusb`, or device info in settings) to identify the Qualcomm chipset (Apq8053, Qca6390, Qca9379, Qcn7605, Sc8180x, or Sdx55)
    Affected if The device uses any of the following chipsets: Apq8053, Qca6390, Qca9379, Qcn7605, Sc8180x, or Sdx55
  2. Check the firmware version
    Query the Bluetooth firmware version using vendor-specific tools or check the firmware image version string (commands vary by device; often found in `/sys/firmware/` or via `hciconfig -a` on Linux, or through device diagnostics on Android)
    Affected if All firmware versions of the affected chipsets are vulnerable; compare your version to confirm it is an affected chipset
  3. Verify Bluetooth is enabled
    Check Bluetooth status using system commands such as `rfkill list`, `hciconfig`, or through the device operating system settings
    Affected if Bluetooth is currently enabled on the device, making the GATT processing code path active
  4. Confirm GATT/BLE services are in use
    Monitor Bluetooth activity using tools like `bluetoothctl` or capture Bluetooth traffic to observe GATT protocol interactions, or check if BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) profiles are active
    Affected if The device has GATT/BLE services running or paired devices that use GATT, which exposes the vulnerable code path to incoming GATT PDU data
  5. Check for OEM security updates
    Review the device OEM firmware release notes or check the current patch level in the device settings under About Phone > Software Information > Android security patch level (for Android devices)
    Affected if The security patch level is older than the vendor release addressing CVE-2020-11153, indicating the firmware vulnerability remains unpatched

A user is affected if their device contains one of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Apq8053, Qca6390, Qca9379, Qcn7605, Sc8180x, or Sdx55), has Bluetooth enabled, and the firmware has not been updated to include the CVE-2020-11153 fix.

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 updates from Qualcomm and device OEMs. As this is a firmware-level flaw in the chipset, network-based mitigations are limited; consider disabling Bluetooth on affected devices until patches are available.

Fix this in Apq8053 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-2020-11153 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