CVE-2018-11948 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE
Exceeding the limit of usage entries are not tracked and the information will be lost causing the content to lose continuity in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music in versions MSM8996AU, QCS605, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 427, SD 430, SD 435, SD 439 / SD 429, SD 450, SD 625, SD 632, SD 636, SD 675, SD 712 / SD 710 / SD 670, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845 / SD 850, SD 8CX, SDA660, SDM439, SDM630, SDM660, Snapdragon_High_Med_2016, SXR1130.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/19/2023
This vulnerability represents a critical memory management flaw in Qualcomm's Snapdragon automotive and mobile platform ecosystems where the system fails to properly track usage entries beyond their designated limits. The issue manifests when the system reaches its maximum capacity for tracking operational entries, causing the loss of crucial information and subsequent disruption of content continuity. This vulnerability affects a broad spectrum of Qualcomm's product portfolio including automotive systems, consumer electronics connectivity solutions, industrial IoT devices, and mobile platforms, indicating a fundamental flaw in the underlying memory management architecture that spans multiple product lines and generations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate boundary checking and memory tracking mechanisms within the system's resource management subsystem. When usage entries exceed predetermined limits, the system does not gracefully handle the overflow condition but instead allows the information to be overwritten or discarded without proper logging or error handling. This behavior creates a cascading failure scenario where the loss of tracking data directly impacts the system's ability to maintain operational continuity and proper state management. The flaw operates at the kernel level or system driver layer where resource allocation and tracking mechanisms are implemented, making it particularly dangerous as it can affect core system functionality rather than just application-level operations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple domains of Qualcomm's ecosystem, particularly affecting automotive systems where continuous operation is critical for safety and functionality. In Snapdragon Auto environments, the loss of usage tracking information could result in complete system failures or unpredictable behavior during critical operations such as vehicle control systems, infotainment, or advanced driver assistance systems. For mobile platforms and consumer electronics, the vulnerability manifests as intermittent service disruptions, application crashes, or loss of data continuity in streaming services, media playback, or connectivity management. The widespread nature of affected products suggests that this vulnerability could potentially impact millions of devices globally, making it a high-priority security concern for both manufacturers and end users.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-129 and CWE-131 categories related to improper input validation and insufficient resource management, respectively. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this flaw could be leveraged by adversaries to perform denial-of-service attacks or potentially escalate privileges through resource exhaustion techniques. The vulnerability's impact is further amplified by its presence across multiple product generations, meaning that even devices that were previously considered secure may be vulnerable due to the persistence of this memory management flaw. Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including firmware updates, system monitoring for unusual resource consumption patterns, and enhanced error handling procedures to detect and recover from tracking overflow conditions.
Mitigation efforts should focus on implementing robust boundary checking mechanisms, enhancing memory tracking systems with proper overflow detection, and establishing redundant logging procedures to prevent information loss. System administrators and device manufacturers should prioritize firmware updates from Qualcomm to address the root cause of the vulnerability, while also implementing monitoring solutions to detect potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability's widespread impact across multiple product lines emphasizes the need for comprehensive security assessments and regular vulnerability scanning of deployed systems to identify and remediate similar memory management flaws that may exist in other components of the platform architecture.