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Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11165

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Memory corruption due to buffer overflow while copying the message provided by HLOS into buffer without validating the length of buffer in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, 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

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in Qualcomm Snapdragon chips where messages from the HLOS (High Level Operating System) are copied into a fixed-size buffer without validating the message length first. This allows an attacker to overflow the buffer and corrupt memory, potentially leading to code execution or denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates for affected Snapdragon devices. Until updates are available, minimize exposure by restricting untrusted inputs and maintaining network segmentation.

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
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm3003a FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm4125 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm456 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm6125 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm6150 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm6150a 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
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 device hardware and chipset
    Determine the exact model and manufacturer of the device. Check if it uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset by reviewing hardware specifications, device documentation, or using system information tools (e.g., 'lspci', 'lsusb', 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' on Linux, or device manager on Windows).
    Affected if The device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and the specific PMIC firmware components listed are present.
  2. Locate PMIC firmware version
    Access the device's diagnostic or engineering mode to read the power management IC (PMIC) firmware version. On embedded devices, this may require accessing /sys/class/power_supply or using vendor-provided diagnostic tools. Check for firmware files or bootloader information that references 'Pm3003a', 'Pm4125', 'Pm456', 'Pm6125', 'Pm6150', 'Pm6150a', 'Aqt1000', or 'Ar8035'.
    Affected if Any of the listed PMIC firmware components (Pm3003a, Pm4125, Pm456, Pm6125, Pm6150, Pm6150a) or network firmware components (Aqt1000, Ar8035) are present on the device.
  3. Confirm all versions are affected
    Since the vendor advisory lists 'all versions' for each affected firmware, there is no fixed version to compare against. If the specific PMIC or network firmware component is identified as one of the listed models, the device is considered affected regardless of the exact version number.
    Affected if Any version of the listed firmware components is found on the system.
  4. Verify HLOS communication path exists
    Determine if the device runs a High Level Operating System (such as Android, Linux, or Windows) that communicates with the firmware. This is the default configuration for most Snapdragon devices. Check system logs or firmware debug interfaces for HLOS-to-firmware messaging.
    Affected if The device operates with any HLOS that sends messages to the chipset firmware, which is the standard operational mode for these devices.

A user is affected if their device contains any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components (Pm3003a, Pm4125, Pm456, Pm6125, Pm6150, Pm6150a, Aqt1000, Ar8035) regardless of version, as all versions of these firmwares contain the buffer overflow 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-supplied firmware updates for affected Snapdragon devices. Until updates are available, minimize exposure by restricting untrusted inputs and maintaining network segmentation.

Fix this in Aqt1000 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,080
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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-2020-11165 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