Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11192

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-03-17
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
Out of bound write while parsing SDP string due to missing check on null termination in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon 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 confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the SDP (Session Description Protocol) parsing code of Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. The vulnerability is caused by a missing check for null termination when parsing SDP strings, leading to an out-of-bounds write that could allow remote code execution.

MitigationApply the vendor-provided patch from Qualcomm to the affected chipset firmware. For downstream devices, await and apply the firmware update from the device manufacturer. Until patched, minimize exposure by restricting network attack surface.

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
Apq8009w FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8037 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 the chipset model
    On Android devices, run 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' or check Settings > About Phone > Chipset/model information. On other embedded systems, check /proc/device-tree/compatible or use 'lspci'/'lsusb' for connected device info.
    Affected if The chipset model matches any of these: Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, or Ar8035.
  2. Check the firmware version
    Use manufacturer-specific commands or tools to read the baseband processor or Wi-Fi firmware version. On Android, check Settings > About Phone > Build Number, or use 'getprop' commands. For IoT devices, consult the vendor's diagnostic interface.
    Affected if The firmware version is any version of the affected chipset listed above, since all versions are vulnerable.
  3. Determine if SDP parsing is in use
    Identify if the device supports VoIP, WebRTC, video calling, or any real-time communication features. Check running processes for SIP/SDP-related services, or monitor network traffic for SDP payloads (typically on ports 5060/5061 or WebRTC channels).
    Affected if SDP parsing is enabled and the device processes SDP messages from untrusted sources, which is common in any VoIP or WebRTC implementation on the affected chipsets.
  4. Inspect SDP handling code paths
    If you have access to firmware binaries or debug logs, search for SDP parsing functions. On Android, check logcat for SDP-related errors or crashes. Review any custom SDP parsing implementations in vendor applications.
    Affected if The device exhibits crashes or unexpected behavior related to session description handling, which may indicate exploitation attempts.

A user is affected if their device contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Aqt1000, Ar8035, or Apq8096au) and uses any SDP-dependent feature such as VoIP or video calling.

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 the vendor-provided patch from Qualcomm to the affected chipset firmware. For downstream devices, await and apply the firmware update from the device manufacturer. Until patched, minimize exposure by restricting network attack surface.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11192 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-11192 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