CVE-2020-11179
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 · uneditedArbitrary read and write to kernel addresses by temporarily overwriting ring buffer pointer and creating a race condition. in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables
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 confidenceRace condition vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets allowing arbitrary kernel address read/write by temporarily overwriting a ring buffer pointer. Affects kernel-level memory protection on multiple product lines including Mobile, Compute, Automotive, and IoT variants.
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 dataall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsCVSS 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
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify the chipset modelRetrieve the SoC/chipset identifier from the device. On Linux/Android: check /proc/cpuinfo, /proc/device-tree/compatible, or run 'cat /sys/devices/soc0/soc_id' or 'cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpu_info'. For automotive/IoT devices, consult hardware documentation or boot logs (dmesg) for the Qualcomm APQ part number.Affected if The chipset model matches any of: Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8096au, or Aqt1000.
-
Verify the Snapdragon product lineConfirm the chipset is a Qualcomm Snapdragon variant. The affected products are APQ (Application Processor Qualcomm) variants used in mobile, compute, automotive, and IoT devices. Cross-reference the identified part number against the official Qualcomm product nomenclature.Affected if The identified chipset is a Snapdragon APQ variant listed in the affected products list.
-
Confirm firmware patch status (if possible)Check for installed security firmware updates from the device OEM. On Android devices, this may be visible in Settings > About Phone > Security Patch Level. For automotive/IoT devices, consult the vendor's firmware changelog or security advisory for CVE-2020-11179 mentions. Note: This is a chipset-level flaw requiring vendor-specific firmware updates.Affected if The device is running an affected chipset and the security patch level does not include a fix for this vulnerability, or the patch status cannot be verified.
A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm APQ chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8096au, or Aqt1000) and lacks the vendor-provided firmware security update addressing this race condition.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 dataApply vendor-provided firmware/security updates from device OEMs; this is a chipset-level vulnerability requiring patches delivered through device manufacturer update channels.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,160.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11179 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-11179 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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