CVE-2016-6750 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in Qualcomm components including the GPU driver, power driver, SMSM Point-to-Point driver, and sound driver in Android before 2016-11-05 could enable a local malicious application to access data outside of its permission levels. This issue is rated as Moderate because it first requires compromising a privileged process. Android ID: A-30312054. References: Qualcomm QC-CR#1052825.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/30/2022
This vulnerability represents a significant information disclosure flaw affecting multiple Qualcomm driver components within Android systems prior to the 2016-11-05 security patch release. The issue manifests in the GPU driver, power driver, SMSM Point-to-Point driver, and sound driver components, creating a pathway for local malicious applications to access data beyond their intended permission boundaries. The vulnerability operates through improper access controls and memory management within these kernel-level drivers, allowing unauthorized data access that should normally be restricted to privileged system processes.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient privilege separation mechanisms within the affected Qualcomm drivers. When a malicious application attempts to access restricted memory regions or system resources through these drivers, the improper access control checks fail to properly validate the requesting process's privileges. This flaw aligns with CWE-284 which addresses improper access control, and represents a classic case of privilege escalation through driver-level vulnerabilities. The vulnerability requires initial compromise of a privileged process as a prerequisite, making it a moderate severity issue rather than critical, though still concerning for system security.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability enables attackers to potentially extract sensitive information from system memory, including but not limited to audio data, graphics processing information, power management details, and communication data handled by the SMSM driver. The impact extends beyond simple data leakage as it could provide attackers with insights into system architecture, memory layouts, and potentially sensitive communication protocols. Attackers could leverage this information to further compromise the system or develop more sophisticated attack vectors. The vulnerability affects devices running Android versions before the specified patch date, making it relevant for organizations with older Android deployments.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate patch application to the affected Qualcomm components and Android systems, ensuring all devices receive the 2016-11-05 security update. Organizations should also implement additional security monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts to system drivers and memory regions. The implementation of kernel address space layout randomization and improved privilege checking mechanisms within driver code provides additional defense layers. Security teams should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of their Android deployments to identify any remaining systems that may not have received the necessary patches, as this vulnerability could be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to sensitive system information. This issue demonstrates the critical importance of maintaining up-to-date security patches and proper driver security implementation within mobile operating systems.