CVE-2021-1940 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE • 07/13/2021
Use after free can occur due to improper handling of response from firmware in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/18/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical use-after-free condition that affects multiple Qualcomm Snapdragon product lines including automotive, compute, consumer IoT, industrial IoT, mobile, voice/music, and wearable devices. The flaw stems from improper handling of firmware responses within the system's memory management mechanisms, creating a scenario where freed memory regions may still be accessed by subsequent operations. The vulnerability manifests when the system processes firmware responses without adequate validation or memory state checking, allowing potential exploitation through malicious firmware updates or device interactions.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-416, which specifically addresses use-after-free errors in memory management. When firmware components return responses to the host system, the Snapdragon processors fail to properly validate that the memory associated with these responses remains allocated and accessible. This improper memory management creates a window where attackers could potentially overwrite freed memory locations with malicious data, leading to arbitrary code execution or system instability. The flaw is particularly concerning given the widespread deployment of Snapdragon processors across various device categories, from automotive systems to wearable technology.
The operational impact of this vulnerability spans multiple attack vectors and threat scenarios. Attackers could potentially exploit this weakness through firmware manipulation, device communication channels, or by leveraging other vulnerabilities in the system stack. The use-after-free condition could enable privilege escalation, system crashes, or complete device compromise depending on the execution environment and available privileges. Given that this affects automotive systems, the implications extend beyond typical consumer devices to potentially impact vehicle safety systems and connected car functionalities. The vulnerability's presence across multiple Snapdragon product lines suggests a fundamental design flaw that requires immediate attention across the entire ecosystem.
Mitigation strategies should focus on implementing robust memory management controls including proper response validation, enhanced firmware update mechanisms, and comprehensive memory state checking routines. Organizations should deploy firmware updates immediately from Qualcomm and implement additional monitoring for anomalous system behavior that might indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of secure coding practices and adherence to memory safety standards as outlined in the ATT&CK framework's system security principles. Regular security assessments and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar memory management flaws across the entire system architecture. Additionally, implementing runtime protections such as address space layout randomization and stack canaries can provide additional defense-in-depth measures against exploitation attempts.