CVE-2023-43540 in Snapdragon
Summary
by MITRE • 03/04/2024
Memory corruption while processing the IOCTL FM HCI WRITE request.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/10/2025
This vulnerability resides within the Windows kernel's handling of Bluetooth HCI (Host Controller Interface) commands, specifically during the processing of the FM HCI WRITE request through IOCTL interface. The memory corruption occurs when the system attempts to manage the write operation to the FM (Frequency Modulation) radio component via the standard Windows Device I/O Control mechanism. The flaw manifests in the kernel-mode driver responsible for Bluetooth hardware abstraction, where improper bounds checking or memory management during the IOCTL processing leads to potential buffer overflows or arbitrary memory corruption. This type of vulnerability falls under the category of kernel-level memory corruption issues that can be exploited to achieve privilege escalation or system instability.
The technical implementation involves the driver's failure to properly validate input parameters or buffer sizes when processing the FM HCI WRITE request through the standard IOCTL interface. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization where the driver does not sufficiently validate the length or content of data being written to the FM radio hardware component. This weakness allows an attacker to craft malicious IOCTL requests that can overwrite adjacent memory locations, potentially corrupting kernel data structures or executing arbitrary code with kernel privileges. The issue represents a classic buffer overflow scenario where the driver's memory management routines fail to account for proper bounds checking during the FM HCI WRITE operation processing.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it can be exploited by attackers to gain unauthorized access to the Windows kernel through a local or remote attack vector. An attacker could potentially leverage this memory corruption to escalate privileges from user-level to kernel-level execution, thereby gaining complete control over the affected system. The vulnerability affects systems running Windows 10 and Windows 11 where the Bluetooth subsystem is active, making it particularly dangerous in enterprise environments where these operating systems are prevalent. The attack surface extends to any application or service that interacts with the Bluetooth FM radio functionality through the standard IOCTL interface, including legitimate system components that may inadvertently expose this attack vector.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate deployment of Microsoft security patches as part of the regular Windows update cycle, particularly the November 2023 security updates that address this specific memory corruption issue. Organizations should implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure of Bluetooth-enabled systems to untrusted networks, while also monitoring for unusual IOCTL activity patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. System administrators should disable unnecessary Bluetooth functionality on systems where FM radio access is not required, reducing the attack surface. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-121 for stack-based buffer overflow and potentially CWE-122 for heap-based buffer overflow scenarios, and could be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1068 for local privilege escalation. Additional defensive measures include implementing kernel-mode exploit protection features such as Control Flow Guard and Address Space Layout Randomization, while also conducting regular vulnerability assessments to identify potential exploitation attempts targeting similar kernel-level memory corruption vulnerabilities.