CVE-2020-11255
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 · uneditedDenial of service while processing RTCP packets containing multiple SDES reports due to memory for last SDES packet is freed and rest of the memory is leaked in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wearables
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 confidenceA memory management vulnerability in Snapdragon chipsets allows denial of service via crafted RTCP packets containing multiple SDES (Source Description) reports. When processing these packets, the memory for the last SDES packet is incorrectly freed while earlier SDES packet memory leaks, leading to resource exhaustion and DoS.
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
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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.
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Identify the chipset model in your deviceCheck the hardware specifications or system information to determine the Qualcomm chipset (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Aqt1000, Csrb31024, Mdm8207, or Mdm9205)Affected if The device uses any of the listed affected chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Aqt1000, Csrb31024, Mdm8207, Mdm9205)
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Check firmware versionRetrieve the firmware version from the device system settings or via diagnostic tools provided by the device manufacturerAffected if The firmware version matches one of the listed affected products (all versions of the listed chipsets are affected)
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Determine if RTCP traffic is processedCheck whether the device or application processes RTP Control Protocol (RTCP) traffic, typically used in VoIP or video streaming implementationsAffected if The device or application processes incoming RTCP packets as part of RTP session management
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Monitor for abnormal memory behaviorIf diagnostic access is available, monitor memory allocation patterns during RTCP packet processing for signs of memory leaks or double-free eventsAffected if Memory usage grows abnormally or crashes occur when RTCP packets with multiple SDES reports are received
You are affected if your device uses one of the listed Qualcomm chipsets and processes RTCP traffic; since all firmware versions of these chipsets are affected, the presence of RTCP processing capability is the determining factor.
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 vendor-supplied firmware patches from Qualcomm/device manufacturers; until patches are available, consider network-level filtering of malformed RTCP packets.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Testing16.0 h
- Review / QA8.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,704.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-11255 — 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-2020-11255 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
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- 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
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