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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11195

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-22
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
Out of bound write and read in TA while processing command from NS side due to improper length check on command and response buffers in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music

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 · moderate confidence

Memory corruption vulnerability in Trusted Application (TA) where improper length validation on command and response buffers allows out-of-bounds read/write when processing commands from the Non-Secure (NS) world. This affects TEE (Trusted Execution Environment) security boundaries in Qualcomm Snapdragon processors.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware/patch for the affected Snapdragon platforms. Review and validate buffer length checks in TAs handling cross-world (NS to secure) command processing.

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
Apq8016 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8064au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8031 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csra6620 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 the Qualcomm processor model
    Check the device or system documentation, boot logs, or use commands like 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' or 'dmesg' to determine the exact Snapdragon or Qualcomm chipset model
    Affected if The processor model matches Apq8009, Apq8016, Apq8064au, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, or Csra6620 - all versions of these products are affected
  2. Verify TEE Trusted Applications are enabled
    Check if the Trusted Execution Environment is active by examining TEE kernel modules, tee driver files in /dev/ or /sys/, or using TEE introspection tools if available on the platform
    Affected if TEE and Trusted Applications are loaded and processing commands from the Non-Secure world
  3. Review TA command handling configuration
    Inspect the configuration or source code of Trusted Applications that handle cross-world (NS to secure) commands, specifically looking at how buffer lengths are validated for incoming command and outgoing response buffers
    Affected if The TA processes NS commands without proper buffer length validation before memory operations
  4. Check for TEE security boundary indicators
    Examine TEE logs, debug outputs, or security audit trails for any out-of-bounds memory access events related to TA command processing from the Non-Secure world
    Affected if Any anomalous memory access patterns or boundary violations are logged during TA command handling
  5. Confirm firmware version is unpatched
    Query the current firmware version through vendor-specific interfaces (e.g., AT commands, bootloader info, or Qualcomm diagnostic tools) and compare against any vendor-supplied patch releases
    Affected if The installed firmware predates or lacks the CVE-2020-11195 security patch

The environment is affected if the device uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models and runs Trusted Applications that handle commands from the Non-Secure world without the CVE-2020-11195 patch applied.

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-provided firmware/patch for the affected Snapdragon platforms. Review and validate buffer length checks in TAs handling cross-world (NS to secure) command processing.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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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-2020-11195 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