CVE-2018-11971 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE
Interrupt exit code flow may undermine access control policy set forth by secure world can lead to potential secure asset leakage in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, in MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MDM9655, QCS605, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 636, SD 712 / SD 710 / SD 670, SD 845 / SD 850, SD 8CX, SDA660, SDM630, SDM660, SXR1130
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/25/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical flaw in the interrupt exit code flow mechanism within Qualcomm's Snapdragon processor architectures, specifically affecting a wide range of automotive, consumer electronics, and industrial IoT platforms. The issue stems from improper handling of access control policies during interrupt processing, creating a pathway for unauthorized access to secure world resources that should remain isolated from non-secure execution environments. The vulnerability impacts multiple generations of Snapdragon processors including the MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MDM9655, QCS605, SD 410/12, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 636, SD 712/SD 710/SD 670, SD 845/SD 850, SD 8CX, SDA660, SDM630, SDM660, and SXR1130 chipsets. The flaw allows for potential secure asset leakage when the processor transitions from secure to non-secure world execution contexts during interrupt handling procedures. This represents a significant bypass of the fundamental security model that separates trusted execution environments from regular operating system contexts, creating opportunities for malicious actors to access sensitive data, cryptographic keys, or other protected resources that should be restricted to secure world operations. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 Access Control Issues and potentially maps to ATT&CK technique T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation, as it enables unauthorized access to privileged execution contexts. The impact extends across automotive systems, consumer electronics connectivity solutions, and industrial IoT deployments where these processors are integrated, potentially affecting vehicle security systems, consumer device functionality, and industrial control systems. The root cause lies in the processor's interrupt handling mechanism failing to properly enforce access control boundaries when transitioning between execution contexts, allowing non-secure code to potentially access or manipulate secure world resources. This flaw undermines the core security architecture of the Qualcomm platforms by enabling a path for privilege escalation and unauthorized data access. The vulnerability's exploitation could lead to complete compromise of secure execution environments, potentially exposing sensitive information, enabling persistent backdoors, or allowing attackers to manipulate critical system functions. Organizations deploying these platforms in automotive, industrial, or consumer applications face significant risk of security breaches that could affect vehicle safety systems, consumer privacy, or industrial process control. Mitigation strategies should focus on firmware updates from Qualcomm, implementation of additional runtime protections, and careful monitoring of system behavior for signs of unauthorized access attempts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of maintaining proper isolation between secure and non-secure execution contexts in mobile and embedded processor architectures.