CVE-2021-35114
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 · uneditedImproper buffer initialization on the backend driver can lead to buffer overflow in Snapdragon Auto
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 confidenceImproper buffer initialization in a backend driver for Snapdragon Auto processors allows a buffer overflow to occur. This is a memory corruption vulnerability in firmware that could potentially allow local privilege escalation or code execution due to uninitialized memory being used.
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 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 Snapdragon Auto hardware in the environmentInventory your automotive computing hardware to determine if Qualcomm Sa9000p or Sa8540p processors are present. Check OEM documentation, hardware BOMs, or system information interfaces that expose processor details.Affected if The system contains a Sa9000p or Sa8540p processor from Qualcomm's Snapdragon Auto line.
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Locate the backend driver for the affected processorAccess the firmware filesystem or driver directory on the automotive computing module. The backend driver is part of the firmware image. Check /lib/firmware or equivalent firmware storage location on the automotive head unit or telematics control unit.Affected if A backend driver exists for the Sa9000p or Sa8540p firmware, as this is the component with the buffer initialization flaw.
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Determine the firmware version of the affected processorQuery the firmware version through the vehicle's diagnostic interface, OEM service tools, or by reading firmware version files in the system. Common locations include /sys/class/xxx/firmware_version or vendor-specific diagnostic endpoints.Affected if Any firmware version is running on the Sa9000p or Sa8540p, as the vulnerability affects all versions of these products.
You are affected if your automotive system contains a Qualcomm Snapdragon Sa9000p or Sa8540p processor running any firmware version, as all versions of these products contain the improper buffer initialization vulnerability in the backend driver.
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 Qualcomm-provided firmware/security patches for Snapdragon Auto processors. Contact your automotive OEM or hardware vendor for the appropriate update.
- Consultation8.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing24.0 h
- Review / QA12.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-35114 — 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-2021-35114 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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