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Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-11303

HIGH · 8.6 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-10-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
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
Accepting AMSDU frames with mismatched destination and source address can lead to information disclosure in Snapdragon Auto, 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

This is a Wi-Fi vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon chips where the firmware incorrectly accepts A-MSDU (Aggregated MAC Service Data Unit) frames with mismatched destination and source MAC addresses. This improper address validation can allow an attacker to craft frames that leak information to unauthorized recipients within wireless range.

MitigationApply Qualcomm firmware updates provided through device manufacturers. For unpatchable or end-of-life IoT devices, implement network segmentation and monitor for anomalous Wi-Fi traffic patterns.

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
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8064au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8076 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8092 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8094 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8031 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
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N

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 chipset model
    Check the device specifications, FCC ID, or system-on-chip information. Common locations include the device settings under 'About Phone' or 'Hardware Info', the device's technical documentation, or by using commands like 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' on Android or 'lspci' / 'lsusb' on Linux-based IoT devices.
    Affected if The device uses an Apq8009, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8092, Apq8094, Apq8096au, or Ar8031 chipset.
  2. Check Wi-Fi firmware version
    On Android devices, use 'dmesg | grep wifi' or check under Settings > About Phone > SIM Status > Wi-Fi MAC address. On IoT/Linux devices, check '/sys/class/net/wlan0/device/firmware_version' or use 'iw list' to retrieve firmware details. Compare the firmware version against any available release notes from the device manufacturer.
    Affected if The device runs any version of firmware on the affected chipsets listed (all versions are vulnerable).
  3. Verify Wi-Fi is enabled and in use
    Check if the Wi-Fi interface is active by running 'ip link show' or 'ifconfig' (wlan0), or check device settings to confirm Wi-Fi has been turned on. The vulnerability requires Wi-Fi to be operational for an attacker to inject malicious A-MSDU frames.
    Affected if Wi-Fi is currently enabled on a device with an affected chipset.
  4. Inspect network traffic for anomalous A-MSDU frames
    Use a packet capture tool like Wireshark or tcpdump on a monitoring interface in monitor mode. Look for 802.11 frames with A-MSDU subframes where the destination MAC address in the 802.11 header does not match the destination MAC address within the A-MSDU payload, indicating address mismatch exploitation.
    Affected if Capture shows A-MSDU frames with mismatched MAC addresses between the 802.11 header and the MSDU payload.

A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Apq8009, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8076, Apq8092, Apq8094, Apq8096au, or Ar8031) and has Wi-Fi enabled, as all firmware versions of these chipsets are vulnerable.

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 Qualcomm firmware updates provided through device manufacturers. For unpatchable or end-of-life IoT devices, implement network segmentation and monitor for anomalous Wi-Fi traffic patterns.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation40.0 h
  • Testing24.0 h
  • Review / QA16.0 h
88.0 hours of engineering $15,280
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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-2020-11303 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