dbcve.org
Agatti FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-3684

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-11-02
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
80/100
Remediation priority · High
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
u'QSEE reads the access permission policy for the SMEM TOC partition from the SMEM TOC contents populated by XBL Loader and applies them without validation' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in Agatti, APQ8009, APQ8098, Bitra, IPQ6018, Kamorta, MDM9150, MDM9205, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MSM8905, MSM8998, Nicobar, QCA6390, QCS404, QCS405, QCS605, QCS610, Rennell, SA415M, SA515M, SA6155P, SA8155P, Saipan, SC7180, SC8180X, SDA660, SDA845, SDM630, SDM636, SDM660, SDM670, SDM710, SDM845, SDM850, SDX20, SDX24, SDX55, SM6150, SM7150, SM8150, SM8250, SXR1130, SXR2130

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

QSEE (Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment) reads access permission policies for the SMEM TOC partition from memory contents populated by the XBL Loader and applies these permissions without any validation. This allows a potentially malicious or compromised XBL Loader to set arbitrary access policies that QSEE will trust and enforce, leading to privilege escalation within the Trusted Execution Environment.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware updates from Qualcomm/device OEMs that include patched QSEE code validating SMEM TOC access permissions before enforcement. No user-level remediation is possible; contact device manufacturers for update availability.

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
Agatti FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8098 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Bitra FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq6018 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Kamorta FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9150 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9205 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
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 checks

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

  1. Identify the device chipset
    Determine the specific Qualcomm chipset or firmware model used by the device. This may be available in device specifications, bootloader information, or through AT commands on Qualcomm-based devices (for example, via 'at+qgmm' or similar Qualcomm-specific commands).
    Affected if The chipset model matches one of the following: Agatti, Apq8009, Apq8098, Bitra, Ipq6018, Kamorta, Mdm9150, or Mdm9205 firmware.
  2. Verify QSEE is present
    Confirm that the device uses Qualcomm Secure Execution Environment (QSEE). This is typically a property of the Qualcomm TrustZone implementation and may be indicated in secure boot documentation, TEE identification in device security specifications, or through secure element logging if accessible.
    Affected if The device implements QSEE as its Trusted Execution Environment.
  3. Confirm SMEM partition usage
    Determine if the device utilizes SMEM (Shared Memory) TOC partition for sharing data between the application processor and the secure environment. This may be documented in the device firmware architecture or verified through secure boot chain analysis if available.
    Affected if The device uses SMEM TOC partition for access permission policy storage.
  4. Check firmware version against patches
    Obtain the installed firmware version from the device (through bootloader, recovery mode, or manufacturer documentation). Compare against any vendor-released patch versions that address CVE-2020-3684.
    Affected if The firmware version is earlier than the vendor-provided patch for this CVE, or the device is running an affected firmware version without an available patch.

A device is affected if it uses one of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Agatti, Apq8009, Apq8098, Bitra, Ipq6018, Kamorta, Mdm9150, Mdm9205) with QSEE and SMEM, and the firmware predates the vendor patch.

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-provided firmware updates from Qualcomm/device OEMs that include patched QSEE code validating SMEM TOC access permissions before enforcement. No user-level remediation is possible; contact device manufacturers for update availability.

Fix this in Agatti Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
32.0 hours of engineering $5,440
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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-2020-3684 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