Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2021-30276

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-03
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
Improper access control while doing XPU re-configuration dynamically can lead to unauthorized access to a secure resource in Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, 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 during dynamic XPU re-configuration in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets allows unauthorized access to secure resources. This vulnerability stems from insufficient validation during the re-configuration process, potentially enabling a local attacker to bypass security boundaries and access protected assets.

MitigationApply firmware updates provided by the device OEM that include the Qualcomm fix for CVE-2021-30276. Organizations should identify all affected Snapdragon-based devices in their environment and coordinate with vendors for patch deployment.

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
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6390 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6391 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6426 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6436 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca8337 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca9984 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qcm2290 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 if your device uses affected Qualcomm firmware components
    Inventory your networked devices and embedded systems to determine if they contain any of the following Qualcomm chipset families: Ar8035, Qca6390, Qca6391, Qca6426, Qca6436, Qca8337, Qca9984, or Qcm2290. Check device specifications, hardware documentation, or network scans for chipset identifiers.
    Affected if Your environment contains any device using one of the listed Qualcomm firmware components
  2. Check the firmware version of affected Qualcomm components
    Access the device management interface, CLI, or firmware dump to retrieve the installed firmware version for the specific Qualcomm component. Compare against the vendor disclosure which states all versions are affected.
    Affected if Any version of the listed firmware is installed (all versions are vulnerable)
  3. Determine if XPU re-configuration is accessible
    Review device configuration and access controls to determine if dynamic XPU (secure processing unit) re-configuration features are exposed or accessible. Check for debug interfaces, diagnostic ports, or management APIs that trigger re-configuration.
    Affected if Dynamic XPU re-configuration is exposed or accessible without proper authorization controls
  4. Verify if the device OEM has applied the Qualcomm fix
    Contact the device OEM or check release notes/changelogs for your specific device model to confirm whether the firmware includes the CVE-2021-30276 patch from Qualcomm.
    Affected if The device firmware does not include the vendor-specific patch for this CVE

Your environment is affected if you have any devices running the listed Qualcomm firmware components (Ar8035, Qca6390, Qca6391, Qca6426, Qca6436, Qca8337, Qca9984, Qcm2290) without the OEM-specific patch applied.

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 firmware updates provided by the device OEM that include the Qualcomm fix for CVE-2021-30276. Organizations should identify all affected Snapdragon-based devices in their environment and coordinate with vendors for patch deployment.

Fix this in Ar8035 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

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-30276 — 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-2021-30276 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