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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11275

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-02-22
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
Possible buffer over-read while parsing quiet IE in Rx beacon frame due to improper check of IE length in received beacon 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

Buffer over-read vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon Wi-Fi functionality when parsing the Quiet Information Element (Quiet IE) in received beacon frames. The code fails to properly validate the IE length before reading data from the beacon, allowing an attacker to trigger an out-of-bounds memory read by transmitting a specially crafted beacon frame with a malformed quiet IE.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates for affected Snapdragon devices once available. Until patches are released, consider disabling Wi-Fi or using wired network connections 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
Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8031 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8151 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify device hardware and Qualcomm Wi-Fi chip model
    Determine the model and manufacturer of the device. Look for documentation, product specifications, or system information that lists the Wi-Fi chipset. Check if the device uses any of the affected Qualcomm part numbers: Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, or Ar8151.
    Affected if The device contains any of the listed Qualcomm Wi-Fi chipsets
  2. Check Wi-Fi firmware version
    Access the device's system information, firmware settings, or diagnostic interface. Query the Wi-Fi firmware version through vendor-specific tools, system logs, or network configuration pages. Compare the firmware version against the affected ranges listed.
    Affected if The device firmware version matches or falls within any of the affected product versions listed
  3. Verify Wi-Fi functionality is enabled
    Check the device configuration or network settings to confirm whether Wi-Fi radio is currently enabled. This can be done via the device UI, command-line tools (such as 'iwconfig', 'nmcli', or 'netsh'), or by inspecting running services.
    Affected if Wi-Fi is enabled and the device uses an affected Qualcomm chipset
  4. Inspect Wi-Fi driver and firmware logs
    Review system logs, Wi-Fi driver logs, or kernel messages for any crash reports, memory errors, or unexpected behavior related to beacon frame processing. On Linux, check 'dmesg' or '/var/log/syslog'. Look for entries mentioning 'Quiet IE', 'beacon', or buffer over-read errors.
    Affected if Logs reveal crashes or memory errors during beacon processing with an affected chipset and Wi-Fi enabled

The environment is affected if the device uses any of the listed Qualcomm Snapdragon Wi-Fi chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, Ar8151) with Wi-Fi enabled, as the vulnerability exists in all firmware versions of these products.

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-supplied firmware updates for affected Snapdragon devices once available. Until patches are released, consider disabling Wi-Fi or using wired network connections to reduce attack surface.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
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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-2020-11275 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