CVE-2019-14042
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows an attacker to read memory outside the intended buffer in the fingerprint application on Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets. It affects multiple Qualcomm platforms across automotive, compute, mobile, and IoT devices. Attackers could potentially access sensitive information or cause system instability.
💻 Affected Systems
- Snapdragon Auto
- Snapdragon Compute
- Snapdragon Connectivity
- Snapdragon Consumer IOT
- Snapdragon Industrial IOT
- Snapdragon Mobile
- Snapdragon Voice & Music
- Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Information disclosure of sensitive data from memory, potential system crash or denial of service, and possible elevation of privileges if combined with other vulnerabilities.
Likely Case
Information disclosure leading to exposure of fingerprint data or other sensitive information stored in adjacent memory, potentially causing application crashes.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper memory protections and sandboxing, though some information leakage may still occur.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires local access to the fingerprint application and knowledge of memory layout. No public exploits have been documented.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Patches available through Qualcomm security bulletin from May 2020
Vendor Advisory: https://www.qualcomm.com/company/product-security/bulletins/may-2020-bulletin
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Check device manufacturer for available firmware updates. 2. Apply Qualcomm-provided patches through OEM firmware updates. 3. Reboot device after update installation. 4. Verify patch installation through device security settings.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable fingerprint authentication
androidTemporarily disable fingerprint authentication to prevent exploitation of the vulnerable component
Navigate to Settings > Security > Fingerprint and disable fingerprint unlock
Restrict fingerprint app permissions
androidLimit permissions for fingerprint-related applications to reduce attack surface
adb shell pm revoke [fingerprint_package] android.permission.USE_FINGERPRINT
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Isolate affected devices from sensitive networks and data
- Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized apps from accessing fingerprint functionality
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check device chipset model in Settings > About phone > Hardware info and compare with affected list. Check fingerprint functionality for abnormal behavior.Check Version:
adb shell getprop ro.boot.hardware.sku or adb shell getprop ro.board.platformVerify Fix Applied:
Verify security patch level in Settings > About phone > Android version > Security patch level is May 2020 or later. Test fingerprint functionality for stability.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Fingerprint service crashes
- Memory access violations in system logs
- Unexpected fingerprint authentication attempts
Network Indicators:
- No direct network indicators - local vulnerability
SIEM Query:
source="android_system" AND ("fingerprint" AND ("crash" OR "exception" OR "out of bounds"))