CVE-2020-11173 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE • 11/02/2020
u'Two threads running simultaneously from user space can lead to race condition in fastRPC driver' in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking in Agatti, APQ8053, Bitra, IPQ4019, IPQ5018, IPQ6018, IPQ8064, IPQ8074, Kamorta, MDM9607, MSM8953, Nicobar, QCA6390, QCS404, QCS405, QCS610, Rennell, SA515M, SA6155P, SA8155P, Saipan, SC8180X, SDA845, SDM429, SDM429W, SDM632, SDM660, SDX55, SM6150, SM7150, SM8150, SM8250, SXR2130
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/30/2020
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-11173 represents a critical race condition flaw within the fastRPC driver component of various Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets spanning automotive, mobile, compute, and IoT domains. This issue manifests when two user-space threads execute simultaneously, creating a timing window where concurrent access to shared resources within the driver can result in unpredictable behavior and potential system instability. The affected hardware platforms include a comprehensive range of processors from the Snapdragon Auto series through various mobile and wearable devices, indicating the widespread nature of this vulnerability across Qualcomm's product portfolio.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability lies in improper synchronization mechanisms within the fastRPC driver implementation, which is responsible for facilitating communication between user-space applications and kernel-space services in Qualcomm's mobile platforms. When multiple threads attempt to access the same driver resources concurrently, the lack of adequate mutual exclusion controls allows for interleaved execution that can lead to data corruption, memory inconsistencies, and potentially exploitable conditions. This race condition falls under the CWE-362 category of "Concurrent Execution using Shared Resource with Improper Synchronization" and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for execution through application shimming and potential privilege escalation vectors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple system instability, as it can potentially enable malicious actors to exploit the race condition for privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution within the kernel context. Attackers could leverage this flaw to gain elevated privileges on affected devices, potentially compromising the entire system security posture. The widespread presence of this vulnerability across multiple Snapdragon chipsets means that numerous devices including smartphones, tablets, automotive systems, and IoT devices could be at risk, creating a significant attack surface that affects both consumer and industrial deployments.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2020-11173 should prioritize immediate firmware updates from device manufacturers, as Qualcomm has released patches addressing this specific race condition. System administrators and device manufacturers must ensure comprehensive testing of these updates in production environments before deployment. Additionally, implementing proper thread synchronization mechanisms and kernel hardening measures can help reduce the attack surface. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of robust concurrency control in kernel drivers and highlights the need for comprehensive security testing of shared resource access patterns in embedded systems. Organizations should also consider monitoring for anomalous thread behavior and implementing intrusion detection systems to identify potential exploitation attempts.