CVE-2019-2290 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE
Multiple open and close from multiple threads will lead camera driver to access destroyed session data pointer in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wearables in MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9640, MDM9650, MSM8909W, MSM8996AU, QCS605, SD 425, SD 427, SD 430, SD 435, SD 450, SD 625, SD 636, SD 650/52, SD 712 / SD 710 / SD 670, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845 / SD 850, SDM660, SDX20, SDX24, Snapdragon_High_Med_2016
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/12/2020
This vulnerability represents a critical race condition in the camera driver subsystem of various Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, affecting automotive, connectivity, consumer IoT, industrial IoT, mobile, and wearable devices. The flaw occurs when multiple threads simultaneously execute open and close operations on camera sessions, creating a scenario where the driver attempts to access memory locations that have already been deallocated. This fundamental memory management error stems from inadequate synchronization mechanisms within the driver code, allowing for concurrent access to shared resources without proper mutual exclusion controls.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through improper session lifecycle management where the camera driver does not adequately protect session data structures from being destroyed while active threads are still referencing them. When multiple threads initiate camera operations concurrently, the driver's internal state management fails to properly coordinate these operations, leading to a situation where one thread closes a session while another thread attempts to access the same session data structure. This results in accessing freed memory pointers, which can cause unpredictable behavior including system crashes, memory corruption, or potentially exploitable conditions that may allow privilege escalation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability spans across multiple device categories and chipset families, affecting a broad range of Qualcomm-powered devices from automotive systems to consumer electronics. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it can lead to denial of service conditions where camera functionality becomes completely unavailable, or more severe scenarios where memory corruption could enable arbitrary code execution. The affected chipsets include popular models such as the MDM9206, MSM8996AU, and various SD series processors, indicating this is a widespread issue affecting both mobile and automotive applications. The vulnerability directly relates to CWE-362, which describes race conditions in concurrent programming, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1068, representing local privilege escalation through exploitation of kernel vulnerabilities.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate firmware updates from device manufacturers, as the issue resides within the hardware driver layer and cannot be addressed through software patches alone. System administrators should implement strict thread synchronization controls in applications that interact with camera hardware, ensuring that concurrent access to camera sessions is properly serialized. The recommended approach includes implementing proper mutex locks and reference counting mechanisms to prevent premature deallocation of session resources. Additionally, device manufacturers should consider implementing runtime checks and memory protection mechanisms that can detect and prevent access to freed memory regions. Security monitoring should focus on identifying unusual patterns of camera session access that might indicate exploitation attempts, while also ensuring that device firmware updates are applied promptly to address the underlying driver implementation flaws that enable this race condition to occur.