CVE-2020-11261Qualcomm Multiple Chipsets Improper Input Validation Vulnerability
CVE-2020-11261 is a out-of-bounds write in Qualcomm Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consume, rated high (7.8 on CVSS 3.1).
Why this priority: Exploited in the wild: listed in CISA's KEV catalog.
Published · Updated · NVD status: Analyzed
What it is
Code writes past the end of a buffer, corrupting memory in ways an attacker can often turn into code execution. The software trusts input it should check, so crafted values reach code that assumes they are well formed.
How it is reached
An attacker can exploit it by someone who can already run code or sign in on the machine, with an ordinary user account, and nobody has to click anything.
What an attacker gains
A successful attack can read the data it protects, change data or behaviour and take it offline. In practice, this kind of flaw lets an attacker crash the process, read memory, or in the worst case run code.
Is it being exploited?
CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 2021-12-01: it is being exploited in the wild. EPSS estimates a 1.5% chance of exploitation activity in the next 30 days, higher than 75% of scored CVEs.
What to do
- Treat it as urgent: it is on CISA's KEV list. CISA's deadline for US federal agencies: 2022-06-01.
- Apply the fix for Qualcomm Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consume: the patch and release notes are linked below.
- Limit who can run code or sign in on the hosts that run it.
- Check exposed instances for signs of compromise, not only for the version.
Description from NVD
Memory corruption due to improper check to return error when user application requests memory allocation of a huge size in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables
What this means for your architecture.
A CVE names a product. Whether it matters depends on where that product sits in your systems: what reaches it, which trust boundary it guards and what it can reach once compromised. Veriom maps your components, their relationships and your trust boundaries from your code, cloud and delivery evidence, so you can see where a component like this sits. The radar itself does not look at your systems.
Components it touches
- Network edge devices: VPNs, firewalls, routers and gateways. They sit between the internet and internal networks, so a flaw in one is often the first step into everything behind it.
- Operating systems on servers, workstations or devices. Everything on the host inherits the flaw.
- Native code: operating systems, browsers and firmware. The flaw sits wherever native code reads untrusted data.
- Network appliances and media or file parsers. The flaw sits wherever native code reads untrusted data.
Trust boundaries in play
- Host boundary. The attacker needs a foothold on the machine first; the flaw turns a small foothold into a bigger one.
- Wherever native code reads untrusted data. An attacker who crosses it can crash the process, read memory, or in the worst case run code.
- At the input boundary of the affected component. An attacker who crosses it can drive the component into behaviour its authors did not intend.
Questions to answer about your own systems
- Where does Qualcomm Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consume run in your systems, and at which version?
- Which of those hosts also run code or users you do not fully trust?
- What can it reach once compromised: which data stores, secrets and services?
Sources
- CVE records and CVSS scores from the NVD CVE API. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- Exploitation status from CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.
- Exploit likelihood from FIRST’s Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), refreshed daily.
- Explanations are written by Veriom from fixed templates over each record’s data, not by a person reviewing each CVE. Descriptions are quoted from the records as published.