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Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11156

HIGH · 8.1 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 →
86/100
Remediation priority · High
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 over-read issue in Bluetooth estack due to lack of check for invalid length of L2cap packet received from peer device.' 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 QCA6390, QCN7605, QCS404, SA415M, SA515M, SC8180X, SDX55, SM8250

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 · moderate confidence

A buffer over-read vulnerability exists in the Bluetooth estack where L2cap packet length is not validated before processing. When an invalid or malicious L2cap packet with mismatched length field is received from a peer device, the stack reads beyond the intended buffer boundaries, potentially exposing sensitive memory contents to a remote attacker within Bluetooth range.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware/security patches from Qualcomm and device OEMs. Until patches are available, limit Bluetooth exposure by disabling when not in use and avoid pairing with untrusted devices.

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
Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcn7605 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcs404 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sa415m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sa515m FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sc8180x FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sdx55 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Sm8250 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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 Qualcomm Bluetooth chip model
    Check system documentation, device specifications, or run commands like 'lspci', 'lsusb', or check /proc/device-tree for Qualcomm chip identifiers. For embedded devices, check the BOM (Bill of Materials) or vendor firmware release notes.
    Affected if The device uses Qca6390, Qcn7605, Qcs404, Sa415m, Sa515m, Sc8180x, Sdx55, or Sm8250 chipsets
  2. Determine the installed Bluetooth firmware version
    Use Bluetooth management tools such as 'btmgmt info', 'hciconfig -a', or check /etc/firmware directory for the Bluetooth firmware file. On Qualcomm-based devices, firmware is typically stored in /lib/firmware/qca or similar paths.
    Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or is earlier than vendor-specific patched versions (all versions are currently affected as no patches are listed in the advisory)
  3. Verify Bluetooth is enabled and actively used
    Check Bluetooth status with commands like 'systemctl status bluetooth', 'rfkill list', or 'hciconfig'. Look for 'UP' status in the Bluetooth adapter interface.
    Affected if Bluetooth is powered on and the L2CAP protocol is active, as the vulnerability triggers during L2CAP packet processing
  4. Confirm the L2CAP protocol stack is exposed
    Verify the device accepts Bluetooth connections from other devices. Check if the device is in discoverable mode ('btmgmt discoverable' output) or has accepted Bluetooth LE or classic connections.
    Affected if The device accepts incoming Bluetooth connections or pairs with other devices, allowing the malformed L2CAP packet to be received

You are likely affected if your device contains any of the listed Qualcomm chips (Qca6390, Qcn7605, Qcs404, Sa415m, Sa515m, Sc8180x, Sdx55, Sm8250) and has Bluetooth enabled, since all firmware versions are currently unpatched for this L2CAP length validation vulnerability.

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/security patches from Qualcomm and device OEMs. Until patches are available, limit Bluetooth exposure by disabling when not in use and avoid pairing with untrusted devices.

Fix this in Qca6390 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,440
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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-2020-11156 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