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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11159

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-09
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
Buffer over-read can happen while processing WPA,RSN IE of beacon and response frames if IE length is less than length of frame pointer being accessed in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking

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 over-read vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon Wi-Fi firmware when processing WPA/RSN Information Elements in beacon and response frames. The vulnerability occurs when the IE length field is smaller than the length of data being accessed from the frame pointer, potentially allowing attackers to read beyond buffer boundaries.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates for affected Snapdragon chipsets. Until patches are available, consider disabling Wi-Fi or using network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted wireless networks.

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
Apq8064au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8076 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8084 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8092 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8094 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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 chipset model
    Check the device specifications or system information to determine if the device uses an affected Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8084, Apq8092, or Apq8094). This information is typically found in the device's technical specifications, lspci output, or system BIOS/boot logs for embedded devices.
    Affected if The device contains any of the listed chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8084, Apq8092, Apq8094)
  2. Verify Wi-Fi is enabled
    Check if the Wi-Fi interface is active using commands such as 'ip link show', 'iwconfig', or 'nmcli device status' depending on the operating system.
    Affected if Wi-Fi is enabled and active on a device with an affected chipset
  3. Check Wi-Fi firmware version
    Retrieve the Wi-Fi firmware version information. On Linux systems, this can often be done via 'dmesg | grep firmware', 'cat /sys/class/net/*/device/firmware_version', or by checking vendor-specific diagnostic tools. The exact path varies by device manufacturer.
    Affected if The device runs any firmware version on an affected chipset (all versions are vulnerable)
  4. Inspect WPA/RSN IE processing
    Monitor wireless traffic using a packet sniffer (such as Wireshark or tcpdump) to observe beacon frames and probe responses being received. The vulnerability triggers when processing these frames containing WPA/RSN Information Elements.
    Affected if The device processes WPA/RSN Information Elements in beacon or response frames while Wi-Fi is active

The device is affected if it contains any of the listed Snapdragon chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8084, Apq8092, Apq8094) and has Wi-Fi functionality enabled, since all firmware versions of these chipsets are vulnerable.

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 for affected Snapdragon chipsets. Until patches are available, consider disabling Wi-Fi or using network segmentation to limit exposure to untrusted wireless networks.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
44.0 hours of engineering $7,720
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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-2020-11159 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