dbcve.org
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2020-3703

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
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
u'Buffer over-read issue in Bluetooth peripheral firmware due to lack of check for invalid opcode and length of opcode received from central device(This CVE is equivalent to Link Layer Length Overfow issue (CVE-2019-16336,CVE-2019-17519) and Silent Length Overflow issue(CVE-2019-17518) mentioned in sweyntooth paper)' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music in APQ8053, APQ8076, AR9344, Bitra, Kamorta, MDM9206, MDM9207C, MDM9607, MSM8905, MSM8917, MSM8937, MSM8940, MSM8953, Nicobar, QCA6174A, QCA9377, QCM2150, QCM6125, QCS404, QCS405, QCS605, QCS610, QM215, Rennell, SC8180X, SDM429, 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 over-read vulnerability in Bluetooth peripheral firmware where the firmware fails to validate the opcode type and length received from a connected central device. An attacker sending a malformed opcode can cause the firmware to read beyond buffer boundaries, potentially leading to information disclosure or code execution.

MitigationThis is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring a patch from Qualcomm and subsequent OEM deployment. Users should monitor for and apply firmware updates from their device manufacturers once available. Until then, minimize exposure by avoiding untrusted Bluetooth pairing requests.

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
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8076 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar9344 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Bitra FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Kamorta FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9206 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9207c FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Mdm9607 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 Qualcomm chipset or firmware
    Check device specifications, system logs, or use commands like 'dmesg', 'lspci', 'cat /proc/cpuinfo', or vendor-specific tools to identify the exact Qualcomm model (Apq8053, Apq8076, Ar9344, Bitra, Kamorta, Mdm9206, Mdm9207c, or Mdm9607)
    Affected if The device uses any of the affected Qualcomm firmware models listed in the CVE (Apq8053, Apq8076, Ar9344, Bitra, Kamorta, Mdm9206, Mdm9207c, Mdm9607)
  2. Verify Bluetooth is enabled
    Check Bluetooth status using 'systemctl status bluetooth', 'hciconfig', 'rfkill list', or equivalent commands for your platform
    Affected if Bluetooth is enabled and the device has one of the affected Qualcomm chipsets
  3. Confirm Bluetooth firmware version if accessible
    Use vendor-specific tools or check Bluetooth firmware information via 'hcitool', 'btmon', or platform-specific diagnostic interfaces that can query the Bluetooth controller firmware version
    Affected if The Bluetooth firmware version cannot be determined or is confirmed to be present on an affected chipset (all versions are affected per the CVE)
  4. Determine if device operates as Bluetooth peripheral
    Check Bluetooth configuration and role using 'hciconfig', Bluetooth manager settings, or system logs to see if the device accepts connections or advertises as a peripheral
    Affected if The device acts as a Bluetooth peripheral (responds to connection requests from central devices) and uses an affected chipset

The device is likely affected if it uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Apq8053, Apq8076, Ar9344, Bitra, Kamorta, Mdm9206, Mdm9207c, Mdm9607) with Bluetooth enabled, as all firmware versions for these models 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

This is a firmware-level vulnerability requiring a patch from Qualcomm and subsequent OEM deployment. Users should monitor for and apply firmware updates from their device manufacturers once available. Until then, minimize exposure by avoiding untrusted Bluetooth pairing requests.

Fix this in Apq8053 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-2020-3703 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