Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11169

CRITICAL · 9.1 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 →
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'Buffer over-read while processing received L2CAP packet due to lack of integer overflow check' 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 over-read vulnerability in the Bluetooth L2CAP packet processing code within Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset firmware. The flaw stems from a missing integer overflow check when processing received L2CAP packets, allowing an attacker to read beyond allocated buffer boundaries and potentially access sensitive memory contents. This is a baseband/firmware-level flaw affecting multiple Snapdragon platforms.

MitigationApply Qualcomm-provided firmware/security patches through device OEM channels; users should check for and apply available system updates. Given this is a firmware-level vulnerability in embedded chipsets, affected devices may require vendor-specific patches or potential hardware replacement if no update is 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
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
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 Qualcomm chipset model
    Check the device specifications, system information, or bootloader strings to determine if the chipset matches any of the following: Apq8009, Apq8053, Qca6390, Qcn7605, Qcn7606, Sa415m, Sa515m, Sa6155p
    Affected if The device uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models
  2. Determine the firmware version
    Query the device's baseband or Bluetooth firmware version through system settings, about phone page, or AT command interface (if accessible). Compare the installed version against the affected product list which states all versions are vulnerable
    Affected if The firmware version is any version of the listed chipsets (all versions are affected)
  3. Check if Bluetooth is enabled and active
    Inspect whether Bluetooth functionality is turned on in the device settings or via system commands
    Affected if Bluetooth is enabled, as the vulnerability exists in L2CAP packet processing which is active during Bluetooth communication
  4. Verify patch status through system updates
    Check for available system or security updates from the device OEM, and review the patch notes or security bulletins for mentions of CVE-2020-11169 or Qualcomm security advisories
    Affected if No patch addressing this CVE has been applied and the device runs an unpatched firmware version

A user is affected if their device contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8053, Qca6390, Qcn7605, Qcn7606, Sa415m, Sa515m, Sa6155p) with unpatched 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 Qualcomm-provided firmware/security patches through device OEM channels; users should check for and apply available system updates. Given this is a firmware-level vulnerability in embedded chipsets, affected devices may require vendor-specific patches or potential hardware replacement if no update is available.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2020-11169 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