Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11260

HIGH · 8.4 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 →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An improper free of uninitialized memory can occur in DIAG services in Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile

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 management vulnerability exists in DIAG (diagnostic) services on Qualcomm Snapdragon chips where uninitialized memory is improperly freed. This can lead to memory corruption, potentially allowing an attacker to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.

MitigationContact device manufacturers for firmware updates addressing this vulnerability in Snapdragon Compute, Industrial IOT, or Mobile hardware.

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
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8917 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Msm8953 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm215 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm3003a FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Pm4125 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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 Qualcomm chip model
    Check the device hardware specifications, bootloader info, or system files like /proc/cpuinfo, /sys/devices/system/cpu/, or use AT commands on the modem interface to query the chip identifier
    Affected if The chip model matches one of the affected variants: Apq8017, Apq8053, Aqt1000, Msm8917, Msm8953, Pm215, Pm3003a, or Pm4125
  2. Determine if DIAG diagnostic service is enabled
    Check if the DIAG device node (/dev/diag) exists and is accessible, or verify that diagnostic debugging interfaces are exposed (common in development builds or devices with USB debugging enabled)
    Affected if The DIAG service or diagnostic interface is exposed and accessible to the attacker context
  3. Check firmware version of the affected component
    Query the modem or system firmware version through AT commands, manufacturer diagnostics, or system information interfaces (e.g., AT+CGMR for modem firmware)
    Affected if The firmware version is an affected build as specified by Qualcomm for the identified chip model

A device is affected if it contains one of the listed Qualcomm chip models AND has the DIAG diagnostic service enabled AND runs a vulnerable 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

Contact device manufacturers for firmware updates addressing this vulnerability in Snapdragon Compute, Industrial IOT, or Mobile hardware.

Fix this in Apq8017 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation16.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
40.0 hours of engineering $7,000
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
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-2020-11260 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
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