Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-3614

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-06-22
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 overflow while copying the frame to local buffer due to lack of check of length before copying 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 Wearables, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in APQ8009, APQ8017, APQ8053, APQ8076, APQ8096, APQ8096AU, APQ8098, IPQ6018, IPQ8074, MDM9206, MDM9207C, MDM9607, MDM9640, MDM9650, MSM8905, MSM8909, MSM8909W, MSM8917, MSM8920, MSM8937, MSM8940, MSM8953, MSM8996AU, MSM8998, Nicobar, QCA6174A, QCA6574AU, QCA6584AU, QCA9377, QCA9379, QCA9886, QCM2150, QCS405, QCS605, QM215, Rennell, SC7180, SC8180X, SDM429, SDM429W, SDM439, SDM450, SDM630, SDM632, SDM636, SDM660, SDM670, SDM710, SDM845, SDX20, SDX24, SM6150, SM7150, SM8150, SXR1130

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

Buffer overflow vulnerability in Snapdragon chipset firmware where frame data is copied to a local buffer without proper length validation. This occurs in the frame processing logic of the connectivity/wireless components across multiple Snapdragon product lines. The lack of bounds checking allows an attacker to overflow the buffer, potentially leading to remote code execution.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware updates from Qualcomm and device OEMs. Until patches are available, limit exposure by restricting network accessibility of affected devices and monitoring for exploitation attempts.

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
Apq8076 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8098 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq6018 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
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 chipset model
    Determine the exact Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset model used in your device by checking the device specifications, hardware documentation, or by accessing the device's system information (often available through diagnostic interfaces, boot logs, or FCC certification documents)
    Affected if The chipset is one of: Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8076, Apq8096, Apq8096au, Apq8098, or Ipq6018
  2. Confirm wireless or connectivity component is active
    Verify that the device has active wireless (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) or wired connectivity features enabled and operational. Check the device's network configuration or status interfaces
    Affected if Wireless or connectivity features are enabled on a device with an affected chipset
  3. Check firmware version
    Retrieve the installed firmware version from the device's admin interface, diagnostic logs, or through firmware extraction/dump. Compare against the affected product list
    Affected if The device firmware is based on any version of the listed Qualcomm Apq or Ipq firmware variants, since all versions are affected

If your device contains any of the listed Snapdragon chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8017, Apq8053, Apq8076, Apq8096, Apq8096au, Apq8098, Ipq6018) and has wireless/connectivity functionality enabled, you are likely affected by this vulnerability.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Apply vendor-provided firmware updates from Qualcomm and device OEMs. Until patches are available, limit exposure by restricting network accessibility of affected devices and monitoring for exploitation attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence
  1. Contact your device manufacturer (OEM) to obtain firmware/security patch updates that address CVE-2020-3614
  2. Apply the manufacturer-provided security update - the patch is delivered through OEM firmware updates rather than direct application-level patches
  3. Verify the applied firmware version includes the CVE-2020-3614 fix by checking the manufacturer's security advisory or patch notes
  4. For IoT/embedded device implementations using affected Qualcomm chipsets (APQ8009, APQ8017, APQ8053, APQ8076, APQ8096, APQ8096AU, APQ8098, IPQ6018), contact Qualcomm for board support package (BSP) updates containing the fix
  5. Confirm the vulnerability is patched by reviewing the security patch level (SPL) in device settings after update
Caveat Firmware updates carry risk of device issues; test updates in controlled environment before broad deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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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-2020-3614 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