dbcve.org
Apq8009Hardware / appliance · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11212

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-01-21
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 bounds reads while parsing NAN beacons attributes and OUIs due to improper length of field check in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, 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

A memory safety vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon Wi-Fi chipset firmware allows out-of-bounds memory reads during parsing of NAN (Neighbor Awareness Networking) beacon attributes and OUIs. The root cause is an improper length field validation check, enabling attackers within wireless proximity to trigger memory access beyond allocated buffers via maliciously crafted NAN beacon frames.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware/security patches from device OEMs that include the Qualcomm fix. Until patches are available, consider disabling NAN/peer-to-peer Wi-Fi discovery features on affected devices to reduce 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
Apq8009Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8016Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8017Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8037Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8039Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8053Hardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8064auHardware / appliance
Affected:all versions
Apq8076Hardware / appliance
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 Wi-Fi chipset model in your device
    On Android devices, check Wi-Fi chipset info via Settings > About Phone > Wi-Fi MAC address, or use terminal commands like 'getprop' to query radio or Wi-Fi firmware details. On Linux, use 'lspci' or 'lsusb' to list network hardware, or check kernel logs with 'dmesg | grep -i wifi'. On embedded devices, consult the hardware specification or boot logs.
    Affected if The chipset is one of: Apq8009, Apq8016, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8039, Apq8053, Apq8064au, or Apq8076
  2. Confirm the NAN feature is enabled
    On Android, go to Settings > Network & Internet > Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi Preferences > Advanced > Nearby device sharing, or check for 'NAN' or 'Neighbor Awareness Networking' in Wi-Fi settings. On Linux with wpa_supplicant, inspect the configuration file for 'nan' or 'network_sim' enablement. On embedded devices, check the Wi-Fi driver or firmware configuration for NAN/Wi-Fi Aware settings.
    Affected if NAN or Wi-Fi Aware peer-to-peer discovery features are turned ON or configured to be active
  3. Check Wi-Fi firmware version if accessible
    On Android, use diagnostic menus (hidden service codes like *#*#0*#*#* or *#*#7266337*#*#*), or run 'dumpsys wifi' in terminal to retrieve firmware version strings. On Linux, check '/sys/class/net/wlan0/device/firmware_version' or similar firmware sysfs entries, or use 'iw' commands like 'iw dev wlan0 info' if supported.
    Affected if The firmware version matches one of the affected APQ variants or is an unpatched build (compare against any vendor advisories if available)

Your environment is affected if you use a device containing one of the listed Qualcomm APQ Wi-Fi chipsets and have NAN/Wi-Fi Aware discovery features enabled, allowing nearby devices to send malicious NAN beacon frames to trigger the out-of-bounds read.

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/security patches from device OEMs that include the Qualcomm fix. Until patches are available, consider disabling NAN/peer-to-peer Wi-Fi discovery features on affected devices to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Apq8009 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,420
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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-2020-11212 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