Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2021-35132

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-09-02
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
Out of bound write in DSP service due to improper bound check for response buffer size in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, 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

Memory corruption vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon DSP service where improper bounds checking on response buffer size allows an out-of-bounds write. This could enable privilege escalation or denial of service via crafted requests to the DSP service.

MitigationApply vendor firmware updates from Qualcomm/OEM device manufacturers. Until patches are available, minimize exposure by restricting untrusted applications' access to DSP interfaces.

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
Qca6391 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6420 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6421 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6426 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Qca6430 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 device DSP firmware version
    Check the firmware version through manufacturer diagnostic tools, AT commands, or by examining system information files such as /proc/version, /proc/cpuinfo, or vendor-specific entries in /sys/firmware on embedded devices. Consult your device manufacturer documentation for the exact method.
    Affected if The detected firmware version matches any of the following: Aqt1000, Ar8035, Qca6390, Qca6391, Qca6420, Qca6421, Qca6426, or Qca6430 (any version).
  2. Verify DSP service is running
    Check running processes or services related to the Digital Signal Processor. On Android devices, examine process listings or use commands like 'ps -A | grep -i dsp' or check for audio-related HAL services. Device-specific methods may vary.
    Affected if A DSP-related service or process is active on the device.
  3. Determine if DSP interface is accessible
    Examine whether applications can make requests to the DSP service. Check permissions on DSP device nodes (typically found in /dev or /vendor) and review SELinux policies or application sandboxing configurations that govern access to DSP interfaces.
    Affected if The DSP service interface is accessible to untrusted or third-party applications without proper restrictions.
  4. Confirm device uses affected Qualcomm chipset
    Review device specifications, hardware documentation, or system information to confirm the chipset model matches one of the affected firmware variants listed in the CVE.
    Affected if The device implements any of the affected firmware variants: Aqt1000, Ar8035, Qca6390, Qca6391, Qca6420, Qca6421, Qca6426, or Qca6430.

The environment is affected if the device runs any version of the listed Qualcomm DSP firmware (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Qca6390, Qca6391, Qca6420, Qca6421, Qca6426, or Qca6430) and the DSP service is accessible.

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 firmware updates from Qualcomm/OEM device manufacturers. Until patches are available, minimize exposure by restricting untrusted applications' access to DSP interfaces.

Fix this in Aqt1000 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
20.0 hours of engineering $3,500
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $5,600.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-35132 — 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-2021-35132 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