Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system · Qualcomm

CVE-2023-33083

CRITICAL · 9.8 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 →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 WLAN Host while processing RRM beacon on the AP.

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 WLAN Host software of Access Points (APs) that occurs when processing Radio Resource Management (RRM) beacons. RRM beacons are used in WiFi networks for radio resource management, and the vulnerability allows memory corruption during beacon processing on the AP side.

MitigationApply vendor-supplied firmware updates for affected wireless access points. Prioritize updates for APs processing RRM beacons in production environments, as the CVSS vector suggests network-exploitable attack complexity.

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
Ar8035 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Ar9380 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Csr8811 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Wcn685x 5 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Wcn685x 1 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Wcn785x 1 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Wcn785x 5 FirmwareOperating system
Affected:all versions
Flight Rb5 5g Platform 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 wireless chipset or firmware model
    Access the AP device management interface, CLI, or system diagnostics to retrieve the wireless chipset or firmware identifier. Common commands include 'show hardware', 'cat /proc/cpuinfo', or viewing the device's technical specifications.
    Affected if The chipset or firmware matches any of these: Qualcomm Ar8035, Ar9380, Csr8811, Wcn685x, Wcn785x, or Flight Rb5 5g Platform
  2. Confirm the device is operating as an Access Point
    Check the device's wireless mode configuration in the AP management interface or CLI. Look for settings such as 'AP mode', 'Master mode', or 'Wireless Router mode' indicating the device is broadcasting as an AP.
    Affected if The device is configured and operating as an Access Point (AP) rather than in client or station mode
  3. Verify if Radio Resource Management (RRM) is enabled
    Locate the RRM or Radio Resource Management settings in the wireless configuration. This may be under advanced wireless settings, RF management, or 802.11k/v options in the AP management interface.
    Affected if RRM (Radio Resource Management) is enabled on the AP
  4. Confirm RRM beacon processing is active
    Check if the AP is actively sending or receiving RRM beacon frames. This can be verified through wireless traffic capture, AP status logs, or RF monitoring tools showing 802.11k beacon measurements.
    Affected if The AP is actively processing RRM beacon frames for radio resource management

You are affected if your AP uses any of the listed Qualcomm chipsets (Ar8035, Ar9380, Csr8811, Wcn685x, Wcn785x, Flight Rb5) and has RRM enabled and actively processing beacons.

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-supplied firmware updates for affected wireless access points. Prioritize updates for APs processing RRM beacons in production environments, as the CVSS vector suggests network-exploitable attack complexity.

Fix this in Ar8035 Firmware Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,080
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-33083 — 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-2023-33083 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
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