CVE-2025-47381 in Snapdragon Auto
Summary
by MITRE • 03/02/2026
Memory Corruption while processing IOCTL calls when concurrent access to shared buffer occurs.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/02/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical memory corruption flaw that manifests during the processing of Input/Output Control (IOCTL) calls within kernel-mode drivers. The issue specifically arises when multiple concurrent access threads attempt to interact with a shared memory buffer, creating a race condition scenario that can lead to unpredictable memory behavior. The vulnerability stems from inadequate synchronization mechanisms that fail to properly protect shared resources during simultaneous read and write operations. When concurrent threads access the same buffer location without proper mutual exclusion controls, the memory management subsystem can become corrupted through buffer overflows, underflows, or memory pointer manipulation. This type of vulnerability falls under the broader category of concurrency-related memory corruption issues that are particularly dangerous in operating system kernel components where privilege levels are elevated.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the driver's IOCTL processing routine failing to implement proper locking mechanisms or atomic operations when handling shared buffer access. When multiple threads simultaneously attempt to read from or write to the same memory buffer location, the absence of proper synchronization primitives such as mutexes, semaphores, or atomic counters creates a window of opportunity for memory corruption. The shared buffer typically contains data structures that are manipulated during IOCTL operations, and without adequate protection, concurrent access can result in memory pointers being overwritten, data being corrupted, or memory regions being accessed beyond their allocated boundaries. This scenario can be exploited through carefully crafted IOCTL requests that trigger the race condition, potentially allowing malicious actors to manipulate kernel memory structures or cause system instability.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple system crashes or hangs, as it can potentially enable privilege escalation attacks or arbitrary code execution within kernel space. An attacker who successfully triggers this memory corruption can leverage the flaw to gain elevated privileges or cause denial of service conditions that affect the entire operating system. The vulnerability's exploitation potential increases significantly in environments where multiple processes or threads are actively communicating with the affected driver through IOCTL interfaces. System administrators and security professionals must consider that this flaw can be particularly dangerous in server environments or embedded systems where drivers are frequently accessed by multiple concurrent processes. The memory corruption can manifest in various ways including system crashes, data corruption, or more insidiously, silent memory modifications that can be exploited for persistent attacks.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on implementing proper synchronization mechanisms within the driver code to prevent concurrent access to shared buffers. The recommended approach involves adding appropriate locking primitives such as spinlocks, mutexes, or other atomic operations that ensure exclusive access to shared memory regions during IOCTL processing. Security patches should address the root cause by modifying the driver's concurrent access handling to prevent race conditions through proper resource management and synchronization. Organizations should also consider implementing runtime monitoring and detection capabilities to identify potential exploitation attempts, as well as applying the latest security updates from vendors. The vulnerability's classification aligns with CWE-362, which specifically addresses Race Conditions, and may also map to ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and kernel exploitation. System hardening measures including driver signing enforcement, kernel address space layout randomization, and other exploit mitigation techniques should be deployed to reduce the attack surface and prevent successful exploitation attempts.