Actively exploited in the wild. This CVE is on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities list — treat remediation as urgent. Federal remediation due by 26 Dec 2023.
315 5g Iot Modem FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2023-33063

HIGH · 7.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-05
Patch available
A vendor patch is available. No clean upgrade release — apply the published patch.
See remediation →
96/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
In the wild Zero-click Patch available

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 DSP Services during a remote call from HLOS to DSP.

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 DSP Services during remote procedure calls from the High-Level Operating System (HLOS) to the Digital Signal Processor (DSP). The vulnerability allows memory corruption during cross-subsystem communication between the main processor and the DSP subsystem.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware/security patches from Qualcomm; coordinate with OEM/ODM vendors for device updates. Verify DSP subsystem is not exposed to untrusted inputs.

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
Apq8017 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Aqt1000 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8031 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar9380 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
C V2x 9150 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csr8811 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 DSP firmware component
    Check the device firmware or system information for the specific Qualcomm component (e.g., check /proc/bootinfo, /vendor/firmware, or system diagnostic logs for identifiers like '315 5g Iot Modem', 'Apq8017', 'Aqt1000', 'Ar8031', 'Ar8035', 'Ar9380', 'C V2x 9150', or 'Csr8811')
    Affected if The device firmware contains any of the listed Qualcomm components (315 5g Iot Modem, Apq8017, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, Ar9380, C V2x 9150, or Csr8811)
  2. Verify DSP services are enabled
    Check system services or configuration for active DSP-related services (e.g., check service lists, /vendor/etc, or system logs for DSP, 'dsp', 'qdsp', or 'hexagon' services)
    Affected if DSP services or the Qualcomm DSP subsystem is enabled and running on the device
  3. Confirm HLOS-to-DSP communication path exists
    Inspect system configuration or network interfaces for paths enabling HLOS-to-DSP communication (e.g., check /dev/, /sys/class, or ioctl interfaces related to DSP; look for rpmsg, fastrpc, or similar DSP communication channels)
    Affected if There is an active communication channel between the High Level Operating System and the DSP firmware (e.g., rpmsg drivers, fastrpc devices, or DSP proxy interfaces are present)
  4. Check for DSP firmware version details
    Query the DSP firmware version through vendor diagnostic tools, sysfs entries (e.g., /sys/class/firmware/ or /sys/bus/platform devices), or debug interfaces if accessible
    Affected if The DSP firmware version matches any of the affected products (all versions of the listed Qualcomm components)
  5. Review DSP-related memory or crash logs
    Examine system logs (dmesg, logcat, vendor logs) for any DSP-related memory corruption events, crashes, or anomalies in HLOS-to-DSP communication
    Affected if There are any logged memory corruption events, unexpected DSP crashes, or anomalies in DSP communication logs

The environment is affected if the device runs any of the listed Qualcomm firmware components (315 5g Iot Modem, Apq8017, Aqt1000, Ar8031, Ar8035, Ar9380, C V2x 9150, or Csr8811) with DSP services and HLOS-to-DSP communication enabled.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Patch available Apply the vendor patch
Vendor patch www.qualcomm.com →
Interim mitigation

Apply vendor-supplied firmware/security patches from Qualcomm; coordinate with OEM/ODM vendors for device updates. Verify DSP subsystem is not exposed to untrusted inputs.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Contact device vendor for firmware containing Qualcomm fix (Qualcomm typically issues patches to OEMs; there is no single public direct download)

  1. Contact your device manufacturer (e.g., smartphone, IoT device, or router vendor) to obtain firmware updates containing the Qualcomm patch for CVE-2023-33063
  2. Verify with the manufacturer that the patch specifically addresses the DSP Services use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416)
  3. Apply the manufacturer-provided firmware update following their recommended procedure
  4. After updating, confirm the DSP Services component version includes the security fix
Caveat Firmware updates may have compatibility implications; test in a staging environment before production deployment

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in 315 5g Iot Modem Firmware Exploited in the wild — priority engagement
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get it fixed fast

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

Scan for this in your stack

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dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-33063 — 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-2023-33063 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data