CVE-2018-7992 in MediaPad M3
Summary
by MITRE
Mdapt Driver of Huawei MediaPad M3 BTV-W09C128B353CUSTC128D001; Mate 9 Pro versions earlier than 8.0.0.356(C00); P10 Plus versions earlier than 8.0.0.357(C00) has a buffer overflow vulnerability. The driver does not sufficiently validate the input, an attacker could trick the user to install a malicious application which would send crafted parameters to the driver. Successful exploit could cause a denial of service condition.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/27/2023
The CVE-2018-7992 vulnerability represents a critical buffer overflow flaw within the mdapt driver component of several Huawei mobile devices including the MediaPad M3 BTV-W09C128B353CUSTC128D001, Mate 9 Pro versions prior to 8.0.0.356(C00), and P10 Plus models before 8.0.0.357(C00). This vulnerability resides in the kernel-level driver responsible for managing specific hardware functionalities, creating a significant attack surface that could be exploited by malicious actors. The flaw stems from insufficient input validation mechanisms within the driver's parameter processing logic, which fails to properly sanitize or bounds-check data received from user-space applications.
The technical exploitation of this buffer overflow vulnerability occurs when a malicious application tricks a user into installation and subsequently sends crafted parameters to the vulnerable mdapt driver. This type of attack vector aligns with common privilege escalation techniques described in the ATT&CK framework under T1068 (Local Privilege Escalation) and T1059 (Command and Scripting Interpreter). The buffer overflow condition arises when the driver receives input data that exceeds the allocated buffer space, potentially overwriting adjacent memory regions including critical control data structures or return addresses. The vulnerability's classification as a CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow) or CWE-122 (Heap-based Buffer Overflow) reflects the fundamental nature of memory corruption that occurs during improper input handling.
The operational impact of successful exploitation manifests primarily as a denial of service condition, where the vulnerable driver crashes or becomes unresponsive, potentially rendering the associated hardware functionality inoperable. This disruption can affect critical device features such as media processing capabilities, hardware acceleration functions, or communication interfaces managed by the mdapt driver. The vulnerability's severity is compounded by the fact that it operates at the kernel level, meaning that exploitation could potentially allow attackers to gain elevated privileges or compromise the overall system integrity. The affected device models represent a substantial user base, making this vulnerability particularly concerning from a threat landscape perspective.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2018-7992 should prioritize immediate firmware updates from Huawei to address the underlying driver vulnerability. System administrators and device users must ensure all affected Huawei devices receive the appropriate security patches that include proper input validation mechanisms and buffer boundary checks. Additionally, implementing application whitelisting policies and user awareness training can help prevent installation of malicious applications that might exploit this vulnerability. The ATT&CK framework suggests monitoring for suspicious driver behavior and implementing runtime protections that can detect and prevent buffer overflow exploitation attempts. Organizations should also consider network-level controls to prevent unauthorized application installation and maintain regular vulnerability assessments to identify similar issues in other device drivers or system components.