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315 5g Iot Modem FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2023-28551

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-05
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
Memory corruption in UTILS when modem processes memory specific Diag commands having arbitrary address values as input arguments.

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 the UTILS component of modem firmware. The vulnerability is triggered when the modem processes memory-specific Diag (diagnostic) commands that contain arbitrary memory address values as input arguments, potentially allowing an attacker to corrupt memory locations and potentially achieve code execution or privilege escalation.

MitigationApply vendor-provided modem firmware patches addressing this vulnerability. Until patched, restrict access to diagnostic interfaces and command channels to prevent untrusted input from reaching the modem's Diag processing.

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
315 5g Iot Modem FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
9205 Lte Modem FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
9206 Lte Modem FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
9207 Lte Modem FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Apq8037 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 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 installed modem firmware model and version
    Query the modem subsystem for its firmware identification. On Linux-based hosts, this can often be done via 'at commands' (e.g., ati, at+cgmm) or through sysfs nodes like /sys/class/net/*/device/firmware_version, or by reading /dev/diag or using qmi commands if available. Alternatively, check the device documentation or boot logs for the Qualcomm modem identifier.
    Affected if The detected modem model matches any of the following: Qualcomm 315 5g IoT, 9205 LTE, 9206 LTE, 9207 LTE, APQ8017, APQ8037, AQT1000, or AR8035 firmware.
  2. Verify if the Diag (diagnostic) interface is exposed
    Check whether the /dev/diag character device exists and is readable/writable, or whether Diag over USB (QC Diag) or network-based Diag services are enabled. On Android, examine /dev/smd* or use 'getprop' to query diag properties. On embedded devices, check if the modem diagnostic port is mapped to a host interface.
    Affected if The Diag interface is accessible to untrusted users or processes, or is exposed over USB/network without authentication.
  3. Confirm memory-specific Diag commands are processed
    Inspect whether the modem firmware is configured to accept memory read/write Diag commands (such as Diag_CMD_MEMORY_READ, Diag_CMD_MEMORY_WRITE, or similar memory poke operations). This may be visible in firmware configuration files, Diag log exports, or by monitoring Diag traffic for commands that take memory address parameters.
    Affected if The modem Diag service is configured to accept and process memory-specific diagnostic commands with arbitrary address parameters.
  4. Check for unrestricted diagnostic command channels
    Review access controls on diagnostic interfaces. Determine if there are ACLs, authentication, or IP whitelisting restricting who can send Diag commands. Look for configuration in /etc/diag.conf, modem provisioning files, or vendor-specific settings that govern Diag command authorization.
    Affected if Diagnostic interfaces and command channels allow input from untrusted sources or have no explicit access restrictions.

A device is affected if it runs any of the listed Qualcomm modem firmware versions and has an accessible Diag interface that accepts memory-specific diagnostic commands without proper access controls.

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 modem firmware patches addressing this vulnerability. Until patched, restrict access to diagnostic interfaces and command channels to prevent untrusted input from reaching the modem's Diag processing.

Fix this in 315 5g Iot Modem Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA6.0 h
30.0 hours of engineering $5,120
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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-2023-28551 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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