CVE-2022-25724 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE • 11/15/2022
Memory corruption in graphics due to buffer overflow while validating the user address in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 05/08/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical memory corruption issue affecting multiple Snapdragon product lines including automotive, mobile, and IoT devices. The flaw occurs during the validation process of user addresses within graphics processing components, creating a buffer overflow condition that can lead to arbitrary code execution or system instability. The vulnerability stems from insufficient bounds checking when processing user-supplied memory addresses, allowing malicious actors to overwrite adjacent memory regions through carefully crafted input data. This type of vulnerability falls under the CWE-121 category of stack-based buffer overflow, though the specific implementation in Snapdragon hardware components creates unique exploitation vectors. The affected product categories span from automotive infotainment systems to wearable devices, indicating a widespread impact across multiple device types and use cases.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability involves the graphics driver or graphics processing unit firmware failing to properly validate memory address boundaries when processing user-space graphics commands. When a user application submits graphics operations with malformed address parameters, the validation routine does not adequately check whether the provided address falls within acceptable memory limits. This allows attackers to craft inputs that cause the system to write beyond allocated buffer boundaries, potentially overwriting critical system data structures, function pointers, or return addresses. The buffer overflow condition can be exploited to achieve privilege escalation or complete system compromise, particularly in environments where graphics processing is exposed to untrusted input sources.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends across multiple security domains and device categories within the Snapdragon ecosystem. Automotive systems using Snapdragon Auto platforms could be compromised through graphics-related attacks, potentially affecting vehicle safety systems or infotainment functionality. Mobile devices running Snapdragon Mobile processors face risks from malicious applications or compromised graphics drivers that could exploit this vulnerability to gain elevated privileges or execute unauthorized code. IoT devices across various categories including industrial and consumer applications are similarly at risk, as the graphics processing capabilities in these devices often handle user input and external data streams. The vulnerability's presence in both consumer and industrial IoT products creates a broad attack surface that could affect critical infrastructure or personal devices.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require a multi-layered approach addressing both software and hardware security considerations. Immediate remediation efforts should focus on firmware updates from Qualcomm that implement proper bounds checking and address validation mechanisms for graphics memory operations. System administrators and device manufacturers should implement runtime protections including stack canaries, address space layout randomization, and heap metadata protection to reduce exploitability. The vulnerability's nature aligns with ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for command and scripting interpreter and T1068 for exploit for privilege escalation, making defensive measures against these attack vectors particularly important. Organizations should also consider implementing application whitelisting policies for graphics-related applications and monitoring for anomalous memory access patterns that could indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments of graphics processing components and user address validation routines should be conducted to identify similar vulnerabilities before they can be exploited in the wild.