CVE-2016-10390
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in Qualcomm Android devices allows excessive memory consumption during file downloads, potentially leading to denial of service or system instability. It affects all Qualcomm-based Android devices using Linux kernel from CAF (Code Aurora Forum) releases. The high CVSS score indicates critical impact potential.
💻 Affected Systems
- All Qualcomm-based Android devices
📦 What is this software?
Android by Google
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system crash or persistent denial of service through memory exhaustion, potentially requiring device reboot or factory reset.
Likely Case
Device slowdown, application crashes, or temporary unresponsiveness during malicious file download attempts.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper memory management controls and updated software.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires triggering file download; no authentication needed. Complexity is low due to memory exhaustion being a straightforward attack vector.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Android security updates from July 2017 and April 2018 bulletins
Vendor Advisory: https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2017-07-01
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check for Android security updates in device settings. 2. Apply July 2017 or April 2018 security patches. 3. Reboot device after update installation.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable automatic downloads
allPrevent automatic file downloads in browser and app settings
Memory monitoring
linuxMonitor memory usage and kill processes consuming excessive memory
adb shell top
adb shell dumpsys meminfo
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict file downloads to trusted sources only
- Implement network filtering to block suspicious download sources
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Android security patch level in Settings > About phone > Android security patch level. If before July 2017, likely vulnerable.Check Version:
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patchVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Android security patch level shows July 2017 or later. Test file downloads while monitoring memory usage.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Excessive memory allocation errors in kernel logs
- OOM (Out of Memory) killer events
- Process crashes during file operations
Network Indicators:
- Unusual download patterns from untrusted sources
- Repeated download attempts to same resource
SIEM Query:
source="android_kernel" AND ("oom" OR "memory allocation failed") AND "download"🔗 References
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103671
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2017-07-01
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2018-04-01
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/103671
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2017-07-01
- https://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2018-04-01
