CVE-2021-30301 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE • 01/13/2022
Possible denial of service due to out of memory while processing RRC and NAS OTA message in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/16/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2021-30301 represents a critical denial of service weakness affecting multiple Qualcomm Snapdragon product lines including automotive, industrial internet of things, and mobile platforms. This issue manifests when the system processes Radio Resource Control and Non-Access Stratum over-the-air messages, creating a potential pathway for adversaries to consume excessive memory resources and ultimately cause system crashes or complete service unavailability. The flaw resides within the mobile network protocol handling mechanisms that process incoming communication signals, specifically targeting the memory management systems responsible for processing these critical telecommunication messages.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and memory allocation practices during the processing of RRC and NAS OTA messages. When malformed or specially crafted messages are received, the system fails to properly manage memory allocation and deallocation processes, leading to uncontrolled memory consumption that can exhaust available system resources. This memory exhaustion condition directly maps to CWE-400 vulnerability category, which specifically addresses unchecked resource consumption leading to denial of service conditions. The flaw demonstrates characteristics of improper handling of system resources during network protocol processing, where the absence of proper bounds checking and memory management controls allows malicious actors to trigger memory allocation exhaustion through carefully constructed network traffic.
The operational impact of CVE-2021-30301 extends across multiple deployment scenarios including automotive systems, industrial IoT devices, and mobile communication platforms, creating widespread potential for service disruption. In automotive applications, this vulnerability could lead to complete communication failures in vehicle systems, potentially affecting safety-critical functions such as emergency communications or navigation services. Industrial IoT deployments face similar risks where network connectivity loss could impact operational monitoring, control systems, or data collection mechanisms. Mobile device users might experience complete service disruption including voice calls, data connectivity, and messaging functionality. The vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499.001 which describes resource exhaustion attacks targeting system availability, and represents a classic example of how network protocol processing flaws can be exploited to compromise system availability and operational continuity.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing robust input validation mechanisms, memory management improvements, and network traffic monitoring systems. Organizations should deploy firmware updates from Qualcomm as soon as available, ensuring that all affected Snapdragon-based devices receive the necessary patches addressing the memory handling flaws. Network administrators should consider implementing traffic filtering mechanisms to identify and block suspicious message patterns that could trigger the vulnerability. System monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual memory consumption patterns and trigger automated responses when thresholds are exceeded. The implementation of proper bounds checking and memory allocation controls during protocol processing represents the fundamental solution required to address this vulnerability, aligning with security best practices for preventing resource exhaustion attacks and ensuring system resilience against malicious network traffic.