Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2021-30284

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-11-12
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
Possible information exposure and denial of service due to NAS not dropping messages when integrity check fails in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, 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 · moderate confidence

The NAS (Non-Access Stratum) layer in Snapdragon chipsets fails to properly drop messages when integrity verification fails, potentially allowing tampered or malformed messages to be processed, leading to information exposure and denial of service conditions.

MitigationApply vendor-provided firmware/modem updates for affected Snapdragon components; coordinate with original equipment manufacturers 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
Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8009w FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8037 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar6003 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
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 chipset model in the device
    Check the device specifications, baseband information, or modem firmware details. On Android, this may be visible in Settings > About Phone > Baseband version, or via diagnostic tools. For IoT/embedded devices, consult hardware documentation or boot logs.
    Affected if The chipset model matches any of: Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, or Ar6003
  2. Confirm the firmware version for the identified chipset
    Retrieve the modem/baseband firmware version through device diagnostics, AT command interface (for modems), or manufacturer documentation. The specific command varies by device; common approaches include using *#06# for IMEI, or checking modem info in engineering mode.
    Affected if Any firmware version is installed on the affected chipset models (all versions are vulnerable per the advisory)
  3. Verify the device utilizes cellular NAS messaging
    Determine if the device connects to cellular networks (LTE, 5G, etc.) where the NAS (Non-Access Stratum) protocol is active. This vulnerability affects the modem processing of NAS layer messages.
    Affected if The device processes cellular network traffic and NAS layer messages, which is the standard operating mode for these Snapdragon modem chipsets

A user is affected if their device contains any of the listed Snapdragon chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8009w, Apq8017, Apq8037, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar6003) and operates on cellular networks, regardless of firmware version.

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/modem updates for affected Snapdragon components; coordinate with original equipment manufacturers for patch deployment.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-30284 — 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-2021-30284 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