CVE-2017-11041 in Android
Summary
by MITRE
In all Qualcomm products with Android releases from CAF using the Linux kernel, an output buffer is accessed in one thread and can be potentially freed in another.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/13/2021
This vulnerability exists within Qualcomm products that utilize Android releases from the Code Aurora Forum and incorporate the Linux kernel. The core issue stems from improper synchronization mechanisms in multi-threaded environments where a buffer allocated for output operations is accessed by one thread while simultaneously being freed by another thread. This race condition represents a classic concurrency flaw that can lead to unpredictable behavior and potential security implications. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it affects a fundamental aspect of kernel-level memory management and thread synchronization within mobile device architectures.
The technical flaw manifests when a kernel module or driver allocates memory for output operations and subsequently passes this memory reference to multiple execution contexts. The lack of proper locking mechanisms or memory barrier operations allows one thread to write to or read from the buffer while another thread executes a free operation on the same memory region. This creates a window of opportunity for memory corruption, null pointer dereferences, or arbitrary code execution depending on the specific implementation details. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-362 which specifically addresses race conditions in concurrent programming, and can be categorized under the broader class of memory safety issues that compromise system integrity.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple functionality degradation to potential security compromise. Attackers could exploit this race condition to execute arbitrary code with kernel privileges, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The vulnerability affects all Qualcomm products utilizing the specified Android releases, making it particularly widespread across mobile device ecosystems. Memory corruption resulting from this flaw could enable privilege escalation attacks, allowing malicious actors to gain root access to devices. Additionally, the timing aspect of race conditions makes this vulnerability difficult to detect and reproduce consistently, complicating both exploitation and remediation efforts.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper synchronization primitives such as mutexes, semaphores, or other locking mechanisms to prevent concurrent access to shared memory regions. Kernel developers should ensure that all memory allocations are properly protected by appropriate locking mechanisms before being accessed by multiple threads. The use of memory barriers and proper atomic operations can help prevent reordering issues that contribute to race conditions. Additionally, implementing proper memory management practices including reference counting and proper deallocation procedures can help prevent premature freeing of memory. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability could be leveraged for privilege escalation techniques and may be classified under initial access and execution phases of attack frameworks. Organizations should apply security patches promptly and implement runtime monitoring to detect potential exploitation attempts. Regular security audits of kernel modules and drivers should be conducted to identify similar concurrency issues that could lead to similar vulnerabilities in the future.