CVE-2019-2260 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE
A race condition occurs while processing perf-event which can lead to a use after free condition in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables in MDM9150, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9640, MDM9650, MSM8909W, QCS405, QCS605, Qualcomm 215, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 425, SD 427, SD 430, SD 435, SD 439 / SD 429, SD 450, SD 625, SD 632, SD 636, SD 665, SD 712 / SD 710 / SD 670, SD 730, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845 / SD 850, SD 855, SDM439, SDM630, SDM660, SDX20, SDX24, Snapdragon_High_Med_2016, SXR1130
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/09/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical race condition flaw in the Qualcomm Snapdragon processor families that affects multiple automotive, mobile, and IoT device platforms. The issue manifests during the processing of perf-event mechanisms, which are performance monitoring interfaces used by the operating system to track hardware performance counters and events. The race condition occurs when multiple threads or processes attempt to access shared memory resources simultaneously without proper synchronization mechanisms. This fundamental concurrency issue creates a window where memory allocated to perf-event structures can be freed while still being referenced by other processes or threads, leading to a classic use-after-free condition.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of memory management within the kernel-level performance monitoring subsystem. When perf-event structures are created and destroyed during system operation, the synchronization primitives that should prevent concurrent access are either missing or insufficiently implemented. This allows attackers to manipulate the timing of operations such that they can trigger the freeing of memory objects while other components of the system are still attempting to access them. The flaw is particularly dangerous because it operates at the kernel level within the Qualcomm's hardware abstraction layer, making it difficult to detect and exploit without deep system knowledge.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across numerous Qualcomm chipsets and device categories, including automotive systems, mobile devices, industrial IoT deployments, and wearable technology. Attackers could potentially leverage this condition to execute arbitrary code with kernel-level privileges, effectively bypassing normal security boundaries and gaining complete control over affected devices. The widespread deployment of these chipsets across multiple device categories means that the potential attack surface is enormous, affecting everything from smartphones and tablets to automotive infotainment systems and industrial sensors. The vulnerability could enable persistent backdoors, data exfiltration, or complete system compromise depending on the specific exploitation vector used.
Security professionals should implement immediate mitigations including firmware updates from device manufacturers, kernel-level patching where available, and network segmentation to limit potential attack vectors. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-362 which specifically addresses race conditions in concurrent programming, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter. Organizations should also consider implementing runtime monitoring for suspicious memory access patterns and performance monitoring anomalies that could indicate exploitation attempts. Given the nature of the vulnerability and its kernel-level impact, comprehensive security assessments of affected systems are essential, particularly in automotive and industrial environments where system integrity is paramount. The flaw demonstrates the critical importance of proper synchronization mechanisms in embedded systems and highlights the need for rigorous security testing of low-level system components that operate across multiple device categories and platforms.