CVE-2016-10459 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
In Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear MDM9206, MDM9615, MDM9625, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9645, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 800, SD 810, and SD 820, during a call, memory exhaustion can occur.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/27/2020
This vulnerability exists in Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile chipsets affecting Android devices released before the 2018-04-05 security patch level. The flaw manifests during active voice call operations when the system experiences memory exhaustion conditions. The affected hardware platforms include the MDM9206, MDM9615, MDM9625, MDM9635M, MDM9640, MDM9645, and various SD series processors such as SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 800, SD 810, and SD 820. The vulnerability represents a critical memory management issue that can lead to system instability and potential denial of service conditions during call operations.
The technical root cause involves improper memory handling within the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset's telephony subsystem during active call processing. When a voice call is established, the system allocates memory resources for call processing tasks including audio encoding, decoding, and signaling operations. The flaw occurs when memory allocation requests exceed available resources or when memory deallocation processes fail to properly release allocated memory blocks. This results in progressive memory consumption that eventually leads to exhaustion, causing the system to become unresponsive or crash entirely. The vulnerability operates at the hardware-software interface level where Qualcomm's modem firmware interacts with Android's telephony services, creating a pathway for memory corruption that can be exploited during normal call operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple call disruption to potentially compromise device availability and user experience. During a call, users may experience unexpected system crashes, spontaneous reboots, or complete loss of telephony functionality. The memory exhaustion condition can occur repeatedly during call sessions, making the device unreliable for communication purposes. From a security perspective, this vulnerability could potentially be exploited by malicious actors to create persistent denial of service conditions, particularly in environments where reliable communication is critical. The vulnerability affects a wide range of mobile devices including smartphones, tablets, and wearables that utilize the affected Qualcomm chipsets, creating widespread exposure across multiple device manufacturers and models.
Mitigation strategies should focus on applying the relevant Android security patches released on or after April 5, 2018, which address the memory management issues within the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. Device manufacturers must ensure proper firmware updates are deployed to affected devices, particularly those using the specified MDM and SD series processors. System administrators and users should prioritize updating devices to the latest security patches and monitor for any recurring issues related to call processing or memory management. Additionally, implementing monitoring solutions to detect memory exhaustion patterns during call operations can help identify vulnerable devices before complete system failure occurs. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-129 and CWE-131 categories related to improper input validation and memory management errors, and could potentially map to ATT&CK techniques involving privilege escalation and denial of service through system resource exhaustion.