CVE-2019-10523 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE
Target specific data is being sent to remote server and leads to information exposure in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon IoT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wearables in APQ8009, APQ8053, APQ8096AU, MSM8909W, MSM8917, MSM8920, MSM8937, MSM8940, MSM8953, MSM8996AU, QCA6574AU, QCS605, Rennell, SDA660, SDM429W, SDM439, SDM450, SDM710, SDM845, SM7150, SM8150, SM8250, SXR2130
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/17/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical information exposure flaw in Qualcomm Snapdragon automotive and mobile platform components that allows sensitive target specific data to be transmitted to remote servers without proper authorization. The issue affects a broad range of Snapdragon chipsets including automotive processors like APQ8009, APQ8053, and APQ8096AU, along with consumer IoT devices such as MSM8909W, MSM8917, MSM8920, MSM8937, MSM8940, MSM8953, MSM8996AU, QCA6574AU, QCS605, Rennell, SDA660, SDM429W, SDM439, SDM450, SDM710, SDM845, SM7150, SM8150, SM8250, and SXR2130. The vulnerability stems from improper data handling mechanisms within the platform's communication protocols that fail to adequately validate or sanitize data before transmission to external servers.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the platform's data transmission processes where target specific information is automatically routed to remote servers without appropriate access controls or encryption measures. This behavior violates fundamental security principles and creates a pathway for unauthorized data exfiltration. The vulnerability manifests when the system attempts to send diagnostic, operational, or configuration data to remote endpoints, potentially exposing sensitive information about the device's configuration, usage patterns, or security settings. This type of flaw commonly maps to CWE-200 - Information Exposure and CWE-312 - Cleartext Storage of Sensitive Information, representing both the exposure of sensitive data and improper handling of information during transmission.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple industries and device categories, affecting automotive systems, mobile devices, and IoT deployments where data security is paramount. Automotive applications using Snapdragon Auto platforms face risks of exposing vehicle configuration data, driver behavior patterns, or security credentials that could enable targeted attacks against connected vehicles. Consumer IoT devices and mobile platforms are vulnerable to exposure of user data, device identifiers, and operational parameters that could be exploited by threat actors. The widespread nature of affected chipsets means that millions of devices across different sectors could be impacted, creating significant risk for both individual users and enterprise deployments.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing proper data validation, encryption, and access control mechanisms within the platform's communication stack. Organizations should ensure that all data transmission processes include proper authentication and authorization checks before any sensitive information is sent to remote servers. Network monitoring and intrusion detection systems should be deployed to identify unauthorized data transmission patterns. Device manufacturers should implement secure boot processes and runtime integrity checks to prevent exploitation of this vulnerability. Additionally, firmware updates should be prioritized to address the underlying communication protocol flaws, and network segmentation should be implemented to limit the potential impact of any successful exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1071.004 - Application Layer Protocol: DNS, where malicious data exfiltration occurs through standard communication protocols, and T1041 - Exfiltration Over C2 Channel, which describes unauthorized data transfer to remote command and control servers.