Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2021-1932

HIGH · 8.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-10-20
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
89/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Improper access control in trusted application environment can cause unauthorized access to CDSP or ADSP VM memory with either privilege in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, 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

Improper access control in the trusted application environment of Qualcomm Snapdragon chips allows unauthorized access to CDSP (Compute Digital Signal Processor) or ADSP (Audio Digital Signal Processor) VM memory. This vulnerability in the trusted execution environment can be exploited to access sensitive processor memory regions with elevated privileges.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware patches from Qualcomm and ensure device manufacturers have integrated the security update. For embedded/IoT deployments, update baseband/firmware to the latest Qualcomm-recommended version containing the access control fix.

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
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6420 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6430 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6574a FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6574au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6595 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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/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 model
    Check the device hardware specifications, boot logs, or system information to determine if the chipset matches any of the affected models: Aqt1000, Ar8035, Qca6390, Qca6420, Qca6430, Qca6574a, Qca6574au, or Qca6595
    Affected if The device uses any of the listed Qualcomm firmware variants
  2. Check the current firmware version
    Retrieve the firmware version from the device bootloader, baseband logs, or through the Qualcomm Snapdragon firmware interface if accessible. Compare against the affected range (all versions)
    Affected if The firmware version is from the affected product list and the device has not been patched
  3. Verify TEE configuration exposure
    Inspect the trusted execution environment settings through debug interfaces or vendor-provided diagnostic tools. Look for any exposed or debug-enabled TEE services that could allow unauthorized memory access
    Affected if The TEE has debugging or development interfaces enabled that bypass access controls
  4. Check CDSP/ADSP service accessibility
    Review system services and interfaces that communicate with the Compute Digital Signal Processor or Audio Digital Signal Processor. Identify if there are unprotected pathways to processor memory regions
    Affected if There are accessible services or interfaces that allow memory access to CDSP/ADSP without proper authentication or authorization checks

A user is affected if their device contains any of the listed Qualcomm firmware variants with an unpatched TEE that exposes CDSP/ADSP memory access to unauthorized contexts.

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-supplied firmware patches from Qualcomm and ensure device manufacturers have integrated the security update. For embedded/IoT deployments, update baseband/firmware to the latest Qualcomm-recommended version containing the access control fix.

Fix this in Aqt1000 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing10.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
34.0 hours of engineering $5,940
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $9,504.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-1932 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-1932 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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