CVE-2020-11228
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 · uneditedPart of RPM region was not protected from xblSec itself due to improper policy and leads to unprivileged access in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, 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 confidenceA security vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon processors allows unprivileged access to a portion of the RPM (Resource Power Manager) region due to improper protection policy by xblSec. This improper policy configuration fails to adequately protect the RPM region from unauthorized access, potentially enabling an attacker to escalate privileges or access sensitive system resources.
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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Identify the device processorCheck if the device uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor by examining /proc/cpuinfo or device specifications. Look for Snapdragon or Qualcomm Aqt/Ar/Pm model identifiers.Affected if The device contains any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Pm4125, Pm4250, Pm6125, Pm6150, Pm6150a, Pm6150l)
-
Determine PMIC firmware versionAccess the Power Management IC firmware information through low-level diagnostic tools, manufacturer diagnostics, or by reading system management interfaces that expose PMIC firmware version (often via debugfs, manufacturer service menus, or specialized firmware readout tools).Affected if The PMIC firmware version matches any of the affected models (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Pm4125, Pm4250, Pm6125, Pm6150, Pm6150a, Pm6150l) regardless of version number since all versions are affected
-
Verify xblSec protection policyAnalyze the xblSec firmware configuration by extracting and inspecting the bootloader security policy settings, typically requiring access to the firmware image or JTAG/low-level debugging interfaces to examine the RPM region protection policy.Affected if The xblSec policy is not properly configured to protect the RPM region from unprivileged access (this requires firmware analysis or vendor verification)
-
Confirm RPM region access controlsCheck the RPM (Resource Power Manager) region access permissions through secure boot debug features, or by reviewing the firmware security policy documentation from the device manufacturer.Affected if The RPM region allows unprivileged or insufficiently restricted access, indicating the improper protection policy is present
The device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm PMIC firmware components (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Pm4125, Pm4250, Pm6125, Pm6150, Pm6150a, Pm6150l) with the xblSec policy not properly protecting the RPM region.
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 the vendor-provided firmware/security patch from Qualcomm that corrects the xblSec policy to properly protect the RPM region. Device manufacturers should obtain and deploy the updated firmware through their normal update channels.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11228 — 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-2020-11228 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