CVE-2016-10441 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
In Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 600, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 625, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 808, SD 810, SD 820, SD 835, and SDX20, improper offset validation leads to buffer overflow in video parser.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/27/2020
This vulnerability resides in the Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile and wear platforms affecting Android devices released before the 2018-04-05 security patch level. The flaw manifests within the video parser component where improper offset validation creates conditions for buffer overflow exploits. The technical implementation involves the parser's failure to adequately validate memory offsets when processing video data structures, allowing attackers to manipulate memory boundaries and potentially execute arbitrary code. This represents a classic buffer overflow vulnerability that falls under CWE-121, which addresses buffer overflow conditions where insufficient bounds checking permits memory access beyond allocated buffers.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across numerous Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets including the MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, and various SD series processors from SD 210 through SDX20. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious video content that, when processed by the vulnerable parser, triggers the buffer overflow condition. The vulnerability enables privilege escalation attacks that can lead to complete system compromise, as demonstrated by the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation techniques. The affected devices include smartphones, tablets, and wearable devices that rely on these Qualcomm chipsets, making the attack surface particularly broad.
The root cause of this issue stems from inadequate input validation within the video parsing pipeline, specifically in how the system handles offset calculations for video frame data structures. When processing malformed video files, the parser fails to validate that offset values remain within acceptable bounds, allowing attackers to manipulate these values to overwrite adjacent memory regions. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1068, which covers local privilege escalation through exploitation of software vulnerabilities. The exploitation process typically requires the attacker to deliver malicious video content to a target device, which then processes the media through the vulnerable parser, triggering the buffer overflow and subsequent code execution.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability include applying the relevant Android security patches released in the 2018-04-05 update cycle, which contain fixed implementations of the video parser with proper offset validation. Organizations should also implement mobile device management policies that enforce automatic security updates and monitor for devices running vulnerable firmware versions. Network-level protections can include content filtering to prevent delivery of potentially malicious video files, though this approach is less effective given the nature of the vulnerability. The fix implemented by Qualcomm addresses the core validation issue by introducing proper bounds checking on memory offsets and implementing additional safeguards within the video parsing engine to prevent unauthorized memory access patterns.