CVE-2016-10432 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
In Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Automobile and Snapdragon Mobile SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 617, SD 625, SD 650/52, SD 820, and SD 820A, TOCTOU vulnerabilities may occur while sanitizing userspace values passed to tQSEE system call.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/27/2020
This vulnerability represents a time-of-check to time-of-use issue within the Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive and mobile platform security subsystems affecting Android devices released before the 2018-04-05 security patch level. The flaw specifically manifests in the tQSEE system call handling mechanism where the system performs validation checks on user space values before processing them, but fails to maintain consistency between the validation phase and the actual execution phase. This temporal gap creates an opportunity for malicious actors to manipulate the validated values between the check and use operations, potentially leading to privilege escalation or unauthorized access to protected system resources. The vulnerability affects multiple Snapdragon SoC generations including the SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 617, SD 625, SD 650/52, SD 820, and SD 820A chipsets, indicating a widespread impact across Qualcomm's automotive and mobile product lines. According to CWE classification, this represents a variant of CWE-367 Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use vulnerability, where the system's validation logic is insufficiently protected against concurrent modification.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when applications or malicious code pass user space parameters to the tQSEE system call interface. During the initial validation phase, the system checks these parameters for safety and compliance with expected formats, but the actual execution of the system call may occur after the parameters have been modified by other processes or threads. This race condition allows attackers to substitute valid-looking parameters with malicious values that pass the initial validation but fail during execution, potentially causing the system to operate with unintended privileges or access unauthorized resources. The vulnerability particularly affects automotive systems where security is paramount, as the tQSEE system call interface handles sensitive security operations that may include cryptographic functions, secure boot validation, or access control mechanisms. The flaw demonstrates a fundamental weakness in the system call parameter validation architecture where the temporal consistency between check and use operations is not properly enforced.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant security risks for devices running affected Snapdragon chipsets, particularly those in automotive environments where system integrity is critical. Attackers could potentially leverage this TOCTOU condition to escalate privileges, bypass security restrictions, or gain unauthorized access to secure system components that should only be accessible to trusted processes. The vulnerability affects the fundamental security architecture of the platform, potentially enabling attackers to compromise secure elements within the device that handle sensitive operations such as authentication, encryption, or secure communication protocols. The impact extends beyond individual device security to potentially affect fleet-wide automotive systems where multiple devices may be vulnerable to similar exploitation vectors, as outlined in the ATT&CK framework's system security research domain where such vulnerabilities are categorized under privilege escalation techniques. The temporal nature of the vulnerability means that exploitation could occur during normal system operations without requiring special conditions or elevated privileges.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability must address both the immediate security concerns and the underlying architectural issues that enable the TOCTOU condition. Device manufacturers should implement immediate security patches that either eliminate the race condition by synchronizing validation and execution phases or by using atomic operations that prevent parameter modification between check and use. The recommended approach involves updating the tQSEE system call interface to ensure that parameter validation and execution occur within a single atomic operation or that proper locking mechanisms prevent concurrent modification of validated parameters. Organizations should also implement comprehensive security monitoring to detect anomalous system call patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts, particularly focusing on the tQSEE interface. Additionally, the security architecture should be reviewed to ensure that similar vulnerabilities do not exist in other system call interfaces or security subsystems within the Snapdragon platform. Regular security audits and adherence to secure coding practices that prevent race conditions should be enforced throughout the development lifecycle, with particular attention to time-sensitive operations that involve external parameter validation. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining temporal consistency in security-critical operations and demonstrates the need for robust concurrency controls in embedded security systems.