Apq8009 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2021-30288

HIGH · 7.8 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 →
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
Possible stack overflow due to improper length check of TLV while copying the TLV to a local stack variable in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, 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 · high confidence

A stack overflow vulnerability exists in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets due to improper length validation when copying TLV (Type-Length-Value) data to a local stack buffer. The lack of bounds checking before the copy operation allows data exceeding the buffer size to be written, potentially enabling code execution or denial of service.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates from Qualcomm for affected Snapdragon product lines. Implement proper length validation before copying TLV data to stack buffers.

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
Apq8053 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8096au FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8031 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csr8811 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csra6620 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 the Qualcomm chipset model in your system
    Check system documentation, device specifications, or use commands like 'lspci', 'lsusb', or check /proc/cpuinfo for ARM-based devices to identify the Qualcomm chipset (Apq8009, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, Csr8811, or Csra6620)
    Affected if The chipset model matches one of the affected models: Apq8009, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, Csr8811, or Csra6620
  2. Locate the firmware version for the Qualcomm chipset
    Check the modem or wireless firmware version through vendor-specific tools, bootloader logs, or system firmware directories (often in /lib/firmware or /etc/firmware). For embedded devices, consult the vendor documentation on accessing chipset firmware version.
    Affected if The firmware version cannot be determined or is an unpatched release (note: all versions of the listed products are affected according to the advisory)
  3. Determine if TLV parsing functionality is active
    Monitor network or modem traffic logs for TLV (Type-Length-Value) data processing. This typically occurs in baseband/modem firmware operations related to wireless communications. Check if the chipset's modem or wireless functions are actively processing data.
    Affected if The chipset is actively processing TLV data through the affected code path in the firmware

You are affected if your device or system incorporates any of the listed Qualcomm chipset models (Apq8009, Apq8053, Apq8096au, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, Csr8811, Csra6620) and uses their firmware for TLV data processing, since all firmware versions of these products are vulnerable.

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 updates from Qualcomm for affected Snapdragon product lines. Implement proper length validation before copying TLV data to stack buffers.

Fix this in Apq8009 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing16.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
56.0 hours of engineering $9,760
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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-2021-30288 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
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