CVE-2017-0748 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
An information disclosure vulnerability in the Qualcomm audio driver. Product: Android. Versions: Android Kernel. Android ID: A-35764875. References: QC-CR#2029798.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/22/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2017-0748 represents a critical information disclosure flaw within the Qualcomm audio driver component of the Android kernel ecosystem. This vulnerability specifically affects devices running Android operating systems where Qualcomm's proprietary audio driver implementation contains a flaw that allows unauthorized access to sensitive system information. The issue stems from improper handling of kernel memory regions within the audio subsystem, creating potential attack vectors for malicious actors to extract confidential data from the device's memory space.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in the Qualcomm audio driver's insufficient validation of input parameters and improper memory access controls during audio processing operations. When the kernel processes certain audio commands or data structures, the driver fails to properly sanitize user-supplied parameters, leading to potential information leakage through memory disclosure mechanisms. This flaw operates at the kernel level, making it particularly dangerous as it can be exploited by malicious applications or attackers with limited privileges to gain access to sensitive kernel memory contents. The vulnerability manifests when the audio driver processes malformed or specially crafted audio data that triggers unintended memory read operations, exposing kernel memory addresses, system configurations, or other confidential information to unprivileged processes.
The operational impact of CVE-2017-0748 extends beyond simple information disclosure, as it can potentially enable further exploitation techniques that align with the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and credential access phases. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to gather kernel memory layouts, device-specific configurations, or other sensitive data that could be used to craft more sophisticated attacks targeting the Android kernel or other system components. The vulnerability affects a broad range of Qualcomm-based Android devices, particularly those running kernel versions that incorporate the affected audio driver implementation. This creates widespread exposure across multiple device manufacturers and model lines that utilize Qualcomm's audio processing hardware and software stack.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of CWE-200, which addresses "Information Exposure," and the broader landscape of kernel-level information disclosure vulnerabilities that have been documented in Android security research. The flaw demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and memory management within kernel drivers, particularly in hardware abstraction layers that interface with proprietary vendor components. Organizations should implement immediate mitigations including kernel updates from device manufacturers, application sandboxing measures, and monitoring for suspicious memory access patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also underscores the need for comprehensive security testing of kernel modules, particularly those implementing hardware-specific drivers that interface with sensitive system resources and may contain vendor-specific implementation flaws that can be exploited by adversaries seeking to compromise Android devices at the kernel level.