CVE-2019-14038
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a buffer over-read vulnerability in the ADSP parse function of Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. It allows attackers to read beyond allocated memory boundaries when processing malformed command responses, potentially exposing sensitive data. The vulnerability affects numerous Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms across automotive, compute, IoT, mobile, and wearable devices.
💻 Affected Systems
- Snapdragon Auto
- Snapdragon Compute
- Snapdragon Consumer IOT
- Snapdragon Industrial IOT
- Snapdragon IoT
- Snapdragon Mobile
- Snapdragon Voice & Music
- Snapdragon Wearables
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Information disclosure of sensitive data from adjacent memory, potentially including cryptographic keys, authentication tokens, or other protected information that could lead to complete system compromise.
Likely Case
Information disclosure of adjacent memory contents, potentially exposing system information or application data that could facilitate further attacks.
If Mitigated
No impact if proper memory protection mechanisms are in place and the vulnerability is patched.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending malformed command responses to the ADSP subsystem. This typically requires local access or ability to interact with ADSP services.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Refer to Qualcomm security bulletin for specific chipset firmware updates
Vendor Advisory: https://www.qualcomm.com/company/product-security/bulletins/may-2020-bulletin
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check device manufacturer for firmware updates. 2. Apply Qualcomm-provided firmware patches for affected chipsets. 3. Reboot device to load updated firmware. 4. Verify patch installation through device firmware version checks.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Restrict ADSP service access
linuxLimit which applications and services can interact with ADSP subsystem
Requires device-specific configuration through SELinux policies or application sandboxing
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict application sandboxing to limit access to ADSP services
- Monitor for unusual memory access patterns or crashes in ADSP-related processes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check device chipset model and firmware version against Qualcomm's affected products listCheck Version:
adb shell getprop ro.bootloader (for Android devices) or check device-specific firmware version commandsVerify Fix Applied:
Verify firmware version has been updated to a version after the May 2020 security patches📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- ADSP subsystem crashes
- Unexpected memory access violations in kernel logs
- Audio/DSP service failures
Network Indicators:
- Unusual inter-process communication patterns to ADSP services
SIEM Query:
Process:ADSP AND (EventID:1000 OR ExceptionCode:0xC0000005)