CVE-2023-21652
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 · uneditedCryptographic issue in HLOS as derived keys used to encrypt/decrypt information is present on stack after use.
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 confidenceDerived cryptographic keys used for encryption/decryption operations in the HLOS (High-Level Operating System) remain in stack memory after use instead of being securely cleared. This sensitive key material persistence could potentially be recovered by an attacker with memory access, leading to confidentiality compromise of encrypted data.
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 versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall versionsall 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
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
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 the Qualcomm firmware product in your environmentLocate the firmware version or chip identification string for your device (check device documentation, firmware metadata, or system logs for identifiers like Aqt1000, Ar8035, Csra6620, Csra6640, Qam8295p, Qca6390, Qca6391, or Qca6420)Affected if Your device runs any of the listed Qualcomm firmware products (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Csra6620, Csra6640, Qam8295p, Qca6390, Qca6391, or Qca6420)
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Confirm the product is in the affected version rangeSince all versions of the listed firmware products are affected, verify that the identified product matches one of the eight affected firmware identifiersAffected if The identified firmware product matches any of the eight listed products (all versions are affected)
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Determine if HLOS cryptographic operations are in useCheck if the device or software stack performs encryption/decryption operations using keys derived or loaded by the affected Qualcomm firmware componentsAffected if Encryption or decryption operations are performed using cryptographic keys handled by the affected HLOS firmware
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Inspect firmware cryptographic code for key clearingIf you have access to the firmware binary, examine cryptographic code paths (particularly encryption/decryption routines) for presence of secure memory clearing (memset to zero, explicit zeroing) of key buffers after useAffected if The firmware cryptographic code does not contain explicit key buffer clearing operations after encryption/decryption
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Analyze memory dumps for residual key materialIf you can capture a memory dump from the device after cryptographic operations, search for patterns of unzeroed key material in stack memory regions used by cryptographic functionsAffected if Key material or key-like data patterns are found persisting in stack memory after cryptographic operations complete
You are affected if your environment uses any version of the listed Qualcomm firmware products (Aqt1000, Ar8035, Csra6620, Csra6640, Qam8295p, Qca6390, Qca6391, or Qca6420) and performs encryption/decryption operations with keys handled by that firmware without additional controls.
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 dataImplement secure memory clearing (zeroing) of derived key buffers immediately after encryption/decryption operations complete in all affected HLOS cryptographic code paths.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation12.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $7,808.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-21652 — 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-2023-21652 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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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.
- 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