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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11155

HIGH · 8.8 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 →
93/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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'Buffer overflow while processing PDU packet in bluetooth due to lack of check of buffer length before copying into it.' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in APQ8009, APQ8053, QCA6390, QCN7605, QCN7606, SA415M, SA515M, SA6155P, SA8155P, 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 overflow vulnerability in the Bluetooth stack's PDU packet processing code. The vulnerability exists because the code copies data into a fixed-size buffer without first validating the input buffer length, allowing an attacker to overflow the buffer with a specially crafted PDU packet and potentially achieve remote code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware updates for affected Snapdragon chipsets. Organizations should identify all devices using listed chipsets and coordinate with original equipment manufacturers for patch deployment.

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
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcn7605 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcn7606 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sa415m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sa515m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sa6155p 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
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/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, system information, or kernel modules to determine if the device uses one of the following chipsets: Apq8009, Apq8053, Qca6390, Qcn7605, Qcn7606, Sa415m, Sa515m, or Sa6155p. This can typically be found via 'lspci', 'lsusb', 'cat /proc/cpuinfo', or the device's technical documentation.
    Affected if The device does not contain one of the listed chipset models, it is not affected by this specific CVE.
  2. Determine the firmware version
    Retrieve the Bluetooth firmware version by examining the Bluetooth controller firmware files, using commands such as 'hciconfig -a', 'btmgmt info', or checking /lib/firmware/qca/ for Qualcomm-specific firmware files. Compare the firmware version against the affected product list.
    Affected if All firmware versions for the listed chipsets are affected (the list states 'all versions' for each chipset).
  3. Verify Bluetooth is enabled
    Check if the Bluetooth subsystem is active by running 'systemctl status bluetooth', 'rfkill list', or 'hciconfig'. The vulnerability resides in the Bluetooth stack PDU processing, so Bluetooth must be powered on for the flaw to be exploitable.
    Affected if Bluetooth is disabled or the Bluetooth controller is not powered, the vulnerability cannot be triggered.
  4. Inspect Bluetooth packet processing logs
    Review system logs (journalctl, dmesg, /var/log/syslog) for any Bluetooth-related crashes, buffer overflow errors, or unexpected PDU handling failures that may indicate exploitation attempts.
    Affected if Unexpected crashes or errors related to Bluetooth PDU processing are observed, this may indicate the vulnerability is present or has been exploited.

A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8053, Qca6390, Qcn7605, Qcn7606, Sa415m, Sa515m, Sa6155p), runs the corresponding Bluetooth firmware, and has Bluetooth enabled.

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-provided firmware updates for affected Snapdragon chipsets. Organizations should identify all devices using listed chipsets and coordinate with original equipment manufacturers for patch deployment.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
42.0 hours of engineering $7,360
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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-2020-11155 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