CVE-2016-10479 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
In Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile MDM9607, MDM9615, MDM9635M, MDM9640, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 600, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 650/52, SD 800, SD 810, and SD 820, an arbitrary length value from an incoming message to QMI Proxy can lead to an out-of-bounds write in the stack variable message.
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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 resides within the QMI Proxy component which processes incoming messages from various communication protocols. When handling malformed QMI messages containing arbitrary length values, the system fails to properly validate input parameters before performing memory operations, creating a critical buffer overflow condition. The vulnerability specifically targets stack variables within the message processing function, where an attacker can manipulate the length field to exceed allocated buffer boundaries and overwrite adjacent memory locations. This out-of-bounds write condition represents a severe security flaw that can be exploited to execute arbitrary code within the context of the QMI Proxy service. The affected chipsets include the MDM9607, MDM9615, MDM9635M, MDM9640, and numerous SD series processors spanning from the SD 210 through the SD 820 platforms. The vulnerability maps to CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write, which is classified as a critical weakness in the Common Weakness Enumeration catalog, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 Command and Scripting Interpreter: Python where attackers could leverage this flaw to gain persistent access to affected devices. The impact extends beyond simple memory corruption as it provides a potential pathway for privilege escalation and full device compromise, since the QMI Proxy typically operates with elevated privileges. Attackers can craft malicious QMI messages that exploit this vulnerability during normal device communication operations, making the attack surface particularly concerning for mobile platforms. The vulnerability affects a broad range of Android devices including smartphones, tablets, and IoT devices that utilize these Qualcomm chipsets, potentially impacting millions of users worldwide. This flaw demonstrates the critical importance of input validation in system components that handle untrusted network data, particularly in mobile operating system security layers where memory corruption vulnerabilities can be directly translated into remote code execution capabilities. The exploitation of this vulnerability requires minimal privileges and can be achieved through network-based attacks targeting the QMI communication protocols, making it particularly dangerous for mobile environments where devices frequently communicate with cellular networks and other services. Organizations should prioritize immediate patch deployment and implement network segmentation controls to limit potential exploitation vectors, while also monitoring for suspicious QMI traffic patterns that might indicate attempted exploitation of this vulnerability. The root cause stems from inadequate bounds checking in the QMI message parser implementation, where developers failed to properly validate the length parameter before using it to allocate or access memory buffers. This represents a classic buffer overflow vulnerability that has been consistently identified as one of the most dangerous classes of software flaws in mobile security contexts, particularly in system-level components that handle network communication protocols.