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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11199

MEDIUM · 5.5 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 →
57/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
HLOS to access EL3 stack canary by just mapping imem region due to Improper access control and can lead to information exposure in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables, 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 · moderate confidence

In Snapdragon processors, the HLOS (High-Level Operating System) can map the imem memory region and access the EL3 (Exception Level 3) stack canary due to improper access control. The stack canary is a security mechanism that protects against stack buffer overflows, and its exposure allows attackers to bypass this protection, leading to information disclosure.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware/patch from Qualcomm that enforces proper access control restrictions on the imem region to prevent HLOS from accessing EL3 stack canary. Contact device OEM for platform-specific updates.

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
Apq8084 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 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
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 Snapdragon processor model
    Check the device specifications or system-on-chip (SoC) information to determine the exact Qualcomm processor model (e.g., Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8084, Apq8096au, or Aqt1000)
    Affected if The processor model matches one of the affected products: Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8084, Apq8096au, or Aqt1000
  2. Check firmware version
    Retrieve the firmware version from the device through system information, boot logs, or by querying the baseband processor version (e.g., via AT commands on cellular-enabled devices or through manufacturer diagnostic tools)
    Affected if The device uses firmware on any of the affected Apq series processors - all versions of these specific chips are vulnerable by design
  3. Verify imem region accessibility from HLOS
    This requires access to secure boot configuration or firmware analysis tools. Check whether the HLOS (Android/Linux kernel) has the ability to map or access the imem memory region. This typically requires OEM diagnostic tools or JTAG access to inspect memory protection unit (MPU) configurations.
    Affected if The imem memory region is mappable or accessible from the HLOS execution context, allowing read access to the protected EL3 stack canary
  4. Check EL3 stack canary exposure
    Inspect secure boot firmware configurations or memory maps to determine whether the EL3 stack canary value is accessible to non-secure (HLOS) memory regions. This often requires vendor-specific diagnostic tools or reverse engineering of the firmware.
    Affected if The EL3 stack canary is readable from the HLOS domain, indicating the access control restriction is not enforced

If the device uses one of the affected Snapdragon processor models (Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8084, Apq8096au, or Aqt1000) and the imem region is accessible from HLOS, the environment is affected by this 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/patch from Qualcomm that enforces proper access control restrictions on the imem region to prevent HLOS from accessing EL3 stack canary. Contact device OEM for platform-specific updates.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing24.0 h
  • Review / QA12.0 h
60.0 hours of engineering $10,240
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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-2020-11199 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