CVE-2020-3648
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 · uneditedu'Possible out of bound write in DSP driver code due to lack of check of data received from user' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables in MSM8909W
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 confidenceOut-of-bounds write vulnerability in the DSP (Digital Signal Processor) driver of Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets (MSM8909W). The driver fails to validate user-supplied data before writing to memory, potentially allowing local attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service.
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 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify the chipset modelCheck the device or system documentation, or use system information commands (such as checking /proc/cpuinfo on Linux-based embedded systems, or checking baseband/kernel version strings) to determine if the chipset is Qualcomm MSM8909W.Affected if The device uses the Qualcomm MSM8909W chipset.
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Locate the DSP driverOn affected devices, the DSP driver is typically exposed as a kernel module or within the baseband firmware. Check loaded kernel modules (lsmod) or examine the /dev directory for DSP-related device nodes, or review the kernel config for CONFIG_QCOM_DSP or similar DSP-related build flags.Affected if A DSP driver for the Qualcomm chipset is present and loaded on the system.
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Determine firmware versionQuery the baseband or DSP firmware version through vendor-specific interfaces (such as AT commands on modems, or through Qualcomm-specific diagnostic tools like QPST for mobile devices). Check system logs or /firmware image versions for strings containing 'DSP', 'Hexagon', or 'MSM8909'.Affected if The DSP firmware version cannot be determined or is present on an MSM8909W platform.
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Check for available security patchesConsult the device manufacturer or Qualcomm advisory records to verify if a firmware patch addressing CVE-2020-3648 has been released and applied. Cross-reference the installed firmware date/version against the patch release date.Affected if No vendor patch for CVE-2020-3648 has been applied to the MSM8909W firmware.
A user is affected if the device uses the Qualcomm MSM8909W chipset and the DSP driver is present, since all firmware versions of this chipset are vulnerable.
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/security patch from Qualcomm or device manufacturer. Until patched, minimize attack surface by restricting device access and avoiding untrusted applications.
- Consultation6.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $8,448.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-3648 — 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-2020-3648 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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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.
- 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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