Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11235

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-06-09
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
Buffer overflow might occur while parsing unified command due to lack of check of input data received 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 · high confidence

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the unified command parsing functionality of Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of input data before processing, allowing an attacker to overflow a buffer by providing specially crafted input during unified command parsing.

MitigationApply the vendor-supplied firmware/security patch from Qualcomm that addresses the input validation deficiency in unified command parsing. Organizations should identify and update all affected Snapdragon-based devices and products.

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
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8064au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8076 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8084 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8092 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8094 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 Snapdragon chipset model
    Query the system or device firmware to retrieve the chipset identifier. On Linux systems, this may be available via 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' or by checking boot logs, dmesg, or system information files. On Android devices, check Build information or use 'getprop' commands.
    Affected if The chipset model matches one of the affected variants: Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8084, Apq8092, or Apq8094.
  2. Verify firmware version
    Retrieve the firmware or baseband firmware version associated with the identified chipset. This may be accessible through system properties, modem logs, or device diagnostic interfaces.
    Affected if Any firmware version is present on an affected chipset, as all versions of these chipsets are vulnerable.
  3. Confirm unified command parsing feature exists
    Identify whether the unified command parsing functionality is present in the firmware. This is typically a firmware-level component; check modem, radio, or system firmware components for evidence of this parsing module.
    Affected if The unified command parsing module is present and operational on the affected chipset.

The environment is affected if it utilizes any of the listed Snapdragon chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8084, Apq8092, or Apq8094) with unified command parsing functionality present, regardless of firmware version.

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-supplied firmware/security patch from Qualcomm that addresses the input validation deficiency in unified command parsing. Organizations should identify and update all affected Snapdragon-based devices and products.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
42.0 hours of engineering $7,360
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Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2020-11235 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