dbcve.org
Agatti FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-3690

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'Due to an incorrect SMMU configuration, the modem crypto engine can potentially compromise the hypervisor' 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, Bitra, Kamorta, Nicobar, QCA6390, QCS404, QCS605, QCS610, Rennell, SA415M, SA515M, SA6155P, SA8155P, Saipan, SC7180, SC8180X, SDA845, SDM670, SDM710, SDM845, SDM850, 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 · moderate confidence

This is a hardware/firmware vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets where an incorrect SMMU (System Memory Management Unit, ARM's IOMMU) configuration allows the modem crypto engine to access memory regions it should be isolated from. This improper memory isolation enables the modem (typically running in a less-privileged execution environment) to potentially compromise the hypervisor, which manages virtual machines and represents a higher trust boundary.

MitigationApply vendor firmware updates from device manufacturers that include the corrected SMMU configuration. Since this is a firmware-level issue, operating system patches alone are insufficient; users must obtain updated firmware from their device OEM.

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
Bitra FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Kamorta FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Nicobar FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcs404 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcs605 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcs610 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 Qualcomm chipset model
    Examine the device or system information to determine the specific Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset. On Linux systems, this may appear in /proc/cpuinfo, dmesg output, or device-specific files such as /sys/devices/soc0/soc_id, /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpuinfo, or through vendor-specific interfaces like 'cat /proc/device-tree/model' on ARM-based devices. Mobile devices may display this under Settings > About Phone > Model or Chipset information.
    Affected if The chipset model matches one of the affected variants: Agatti, Bitra, Kamorta, Nicobar, Qca6390, Qcs404, Qcs605, or Qcs610.
  2. Determine the firmware version
    Query the installed firmware version for the identified chipset. This is typically accessed through vendor-specific tools, debug interfaces (ADB for Android devices), or system logs containing modem or wireless subsystem firmware information. The exact command varies by device OEM and may require elevated privileges or manufacturer utilities.
    Affected if A firmware version is returned for any of the affected chipset variants (all versions of Agatti, Bitra, Kamorta, Nicobar, Qca6390, Qcs404, Qcs605, and Qcs610 are affected by this CVE).

The device is affected if it contains any of the following Qualcomm chipsets or firmware variants: Agatti, Bitra, Kamorta, Nicobar, Qca6390, Qcs404, Qcs605, or Qcs610, as all versions of these products contain the incorrect SMMU configuration flaw.

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 firmware updates from device manufacturers that include the corrected SMMU configuration. Since this is a firmware-level issue, operating system patches alone are insufficient; users must obtain updated firmware from their device OEM.

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-2020-3690 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