Ar7420 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2021-1887

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-07-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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
An assertion can be reached in the WLAN subsystem while using the Wi-Fi Fine Timing Measurement protocol in Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking

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

A reachable assertion vulnerability exists in the WLAN subsystem when processing Wi-Fi Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol packets. An attacker with proximity to the target network could trigger the assertion, potentially causing a denial of service or unexpected behavior in affected Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking devices.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware updates for affected Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking products. If no patch is available, consider disabling FTM protocol support on vulnerable devices or restricting Wi-Fi access to trusted entities.

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
Ar7420 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar9380 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csr8811 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4018 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4019 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4028 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq4029 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ipq8064 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
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/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 or model
    Check the device documentation, CLI output (e.g., 'lspci', 'iw list', or vendor-specific commands), or hardware labeling to determine if the device uses one of the following chipsets: Qualcomm Ar7420, Ar9380, Csr8811, Ipq4018, Ipq4019, Ipq4028, Ipq4029, or Ipq8064
    Affected if The device implements any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets in its wireless subsystem
  2. Verify FTM protocol support is enabled
    Check the Wi-Fi configuration or wireless settings via CLI (e.g., 'iw dev', 'hostapd-cli', or vendor management interface) for Fine Timing Measurement or FTM responder/ initiator settings
    Affected if FTM (802.11mc) protocol support is enabled or configured on the device
  3. Check for FTM-related processes or services
    Inspect running processes or services related to Wi-Fi (e.g., 'ps', 'hostapd', 'wpa_supplicant') and look for FTM-specific configuration files or parameters in /etc or /var directories
    Affected if FTM-related services, processes, or configuration entries are found on the device
  4. Review wireless interface configuration
    Use wireless management tools (iw, wpa_supplicant, or vendor CLI) to query the wireless interface capabilities and active parameters, specifically looking for FTM responder or FTM initiator settings
    Affected if The wireless interface shows FTM capability or configuration as active
  5. Check firmware version if accessible
    If firmware version is exposed via CLI (e.g., 'cat /proc/version', vendor-specific 'show version' or 'get firmware-version'), compare against the affected product list
    Affected if The device runs firmware on any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets regardless of version, as all versions are affected

A user is affected if their device uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Ar7420, Ar9380, Csr8811, Ipq4018, Ipq4019, Ipq4028, Ipq4029, Ipq8064) and has FTM protocol support enabled in the wireless configuration.

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 for affected Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking products. If no patch is available, consider disabling FTM protocol support on vulnerable devices or restricting Wi-Fi access to trusted entities.

Fix this in Ar7420 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,200
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2021-1887 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