CVE-2021-1888
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 · uneditedMemory corruption in key parsing and import function due to double freeing the same heap allocation in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables
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 confidenceMemory corruption vulnerability in key parsing and import functions where a double-free of the same heap allocation occurs, potentially allowing code execution or denial of service. The double-free condition arises during key handling operations in affected Snapdragon components.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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 Qualcomm chip modelCheck /proc/cpuinfo, dmesg, or bootloader logs for the specific Qualcomm Snapdragon model number (e.g., Apq8017, Apq8053)Affected if The chip model matches one of the affected products: Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, or Ar8035
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Confirm firmware versionQuery the firmware version via vendor-specific tools, /proc/version, or device management interfaces. Since all versions of affected firmwares are vulnerable, any version confirmation ties the device to this CVEAffected if Any firmware version is detected on an affected chip model
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Verify key handling functionality is exposedCheck if the device exposes key import, parsing, or cryptographic key management features (e.g., via keymaster, keystore, or hardware abstraction layer APIs). This vulnerability triggers during key handling operations.Affected if Key parsing or import features are accessible or usable on the device
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Look for double-free crash indicatorsReview kernel logs (dmesg, /var/log/kern.log) and crash dumps for memory corruption patterns, double-free heap errors, or unexpected key-related crashesAffected if Double-free errors or heap corruption appears in logs related to key operations
A device is affected if it contains any of the listed Qualcomm chip models (Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8064au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, or Apq8096au) and exposes key handling functionality, regardless of firmware version since all versions 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 patches from Qualcomm for affected Snapdragon product lines. Downstream device manufacturers must integrate these firmware updates and distribute them to end-user devices.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing12.0 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 $7,744.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1888 — 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-2021-1888 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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