CVE-2018-11976 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE
ECDSA signature code leaks private keys from secure world to non-secure world in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer Electronics Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in IPQ8074, MDM9150, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MDM9655, MSM8909W, MSM8996AU, QCA8081, QCS605, Qualcomm 215, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 427, SD 430, SD 435, SD 439 / SD 429, SD 450, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 625, SD 632, SD 636, SD 650/52, 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 • 06/15/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical cryptographic flaw in Qualcomm's secure execution environment where elliptic curve digital signature algorithm implementations inadvertently expose private key material from the secure world to the non-secure world. The issue affects a broad range of Snapdragon chipsets spanning automotive, mobile, IoT, and networking domains, indicating a systemic weakness in the cryptographic subsystem design. The vulnerability stems from improper memory management and access control mechanisms within the ECDSA signature generation code, which fails to maintain proper isolation between privileged secure execution contexts and unprivileged non-secure execution environments.
The technical exploitation occurs through side-channel attacks that leverage timing variations and memory access patterns during cryptographic operations. When ECDSA signatures are computed, the implementation does not sufficiently protect against information leakage through cache timing attacks or memory access patterns that can be observed from the non-secure world. This allows malicious actors with access to the non-secure world to reconstruct the private key components used in signature generation. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it operates at the hardware level within the trusted execution environment, bypassing traditional software-based cryptographic protections and operating system security controls.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple threat vectors and attack surfaces within Qualcomm's ecosystem. Attackers could potentially compromise secure boot processes, digital signatures used for device authentication, and cryptographic operations critical to IoT device security. The vulnerability affects devices ranging from consumer smartphones to industrial IoT sensors, automotive systems, and networking infrastructure, creating widespread exposure across multiple industries. Organizations relying on these chipsets for security-critical applications face potential compromise of their entire security infrastructure, as private keys used for authentication and encryption could be extracted and reused for impersonation attacks.
Mitigation strategies must address both immediate remediation and long-term architectural improvements. Qualcomm has released patches and firmware updates to address the vulnerability, requiring device manufacturers to implement proper memory isolation and access control mechanisms. The solution involves strengthening the secure world implementation to prevent information leakage through cache timing and memory access patterns. Security practitioners should implement additional monitoring for suspicious memory access patterns and ensure proper firmware updates are deployed across all affected devices. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-209, which describes information exposure through implementation error, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1552.001 for unsecured credentials and T1059.001 for command and scripting interpreter. Organizations must also consider the broader implications for supply chain security and implement comprehensive device lifecycle management to ensure all endpoints receive proper security updates.