CVE-2020-11138

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2020-11138?

CVE-2020-11138 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL). This vulnerability allows attackers to exploit uninitialized pointers during music playback in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, potentially leading to remote code execution or denial of service. It affects numerous Snapdragon platforms across automotive, mobile, IoT, and networking devices. The high CVSS score indicates critical severity requiring immediate attention.

9.8 CRITICAL

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows attackers to exploit uninitialized pointers during music playback in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, potentially leading to remote code execution or denial of service. It affects numerous Snapdragon platforms across automotive, mobile, IoT, and networking devices. The high CVSS score indicates critical severity requiring immediate attention.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Snapdragon Auto
Snapdragon Compute
Snapdragon Connectivity
Snapdragon Consumer IOT
Snapdragon Industrial IOT
Snapdragon IoT
Snapdragon Mobile
Snapdragon Voice & Music
Snapdragon Wearables
Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking

Versions: Multiple chipset versions across affected platforms

Operating Systems: Android, Linux-based embedded systems

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Affects Qualcomm chipsets across multiple product categories; specific firmware versions vary by device manufacturer implementation.

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution with kernel privileges leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or persistent backdoor installation.

🟠

Likely Case

System instability, crashes, or denial of service affecting audio/media functionality on affected devices.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper memory protection mechanisms and exploit mitigations in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM

🏢 Internal Only: HIGH

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires triggering the vulnerable audio playback code path; no public exploits known but vulnerability is remotely triggerable.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Varies by device manufacturer and chipset

Vendor Advisory: https://www.qualcomm.com/company/product-security/bulletins/december-2020-bulletin

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Check with device manufacturer for firmware updates. 2. Apply Qualcomm-provided patches through OEM firmware updates. 3. Reboot device after update installation.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable vulnerable audio codecs

all

Disable or restrict access to audio playback features that trigger the vulnerable code path

Device-specific configuration required

Memory protection enforcement

linux

Enable strict memory protection mechanisms and exploit mitigations

echo 2 > /proc/sys/kernel/randomize_va_space
Device-specific security hardening

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Network segmentation to isolate affected devices from untrusted networks
Implement strict access controls and monitor for abnormal audio/media processing behavior

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check device firmware version against manufacturer security bulletins; examine Qualcomm chipset version and firmware build date

Check Version:

adb shell getprop ro.build.fingerprint (Android) or cat /proc/version (Linux)

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify firmware version has been updated to post-December 2020 security patch level

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Kernel panic logs
Audio service crashes
Memory access violation errors in system logs

Network Indicators:

Unexpected audio streaming traffic patterns
Network connections from audio services to unusual destinations

SIEM Query:

source="kernel" AND ("panic" OR "oops") AND ("audio" OR "media")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2020-11138

CVSS v3 Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-824

Published: January 21, 2021

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

📋 TL;DR

💻 Affected Systems

📦 What is this software?

Apq8009 by Qualcomm

Apq8009w by Qualcomm

Apq8017 by Qualcomm

Apq8030 by Qualcomm

Apq8037 by Qualcomm

Apq8052 by Qualcomm

Apq8053 by Qualcomm

Apq8056 by Qualcomm

Apq8062 by Qualcomm

Apq8064 by Qualcomm

Apq8064au by Qualcomm

Apq8076 by Qualcomm

Apq8084 by Qualcomm

Apq8096au by Qualcomm

Aqt1000 by Qualcomm

Ar6003 by Qualcomm

Ar8031 by Qualcomm

Ar8035 by Qualcomm

Ar8151 by Qualcomm

Csra6620 by Qualcomm

Csra6640 by Qualcomm

Csrb31024 by Qualcomm

Mdm8215 by Qualcomm

Mdm8215m by Qualcomm

Mdm8615m by Qualcomm

Mdm8635m by Qualcomm

Mdm9215 by Qualcomm

Mdm9225 by Qualcomm

Mdm9225m by Qualcomm

Mdm9230 by Qualcomm

Mdm9235m by Qualcomm

Mdm9310 by Qualcomm

Mdm9330 by Qualcomm

Mdm9607 by Qualcomm

Mdm9615 by Qualcomm

Mdm9615m by Qualcomm

Mdm9625 by Qualcomm

Mdm9625m by Qualcomm

Mdm9628 by Qualcomm

Mdm9630 by Qualcomm

Mdm9635m by Qualcomm

Mdm9640 by Qualcomm

Mdm9645 by Qualcomm

Mdm9650 by Qualcomm

Mdm9655 by Qualcomm

Mpq8064 by Qualcomm

Msm8108 by Qualcomm

Msm8208 by Qualcomm

Msm8209 by Qualcomm

Msm8226 by Qualcomm

Msm8227 by Qualcomm

Msm8230 by Qualcomm

Msm8608 by Qualcomm

Msm8610 by Qualcomm

Msm8627 by Qualcomm

Msm8630 by Qualcomm

Msm8909w by Qualcomm

Msm8917 by Qualcomm

Msm8920 by Qualcomm

Msm8930 by Qualcomm

Msm8940 by Qualcomm

Msm8952 by Qualcomm

Msm8953 by Qualcomm

Msm8956 by Qualcomm

Msm8960 by Qualcomm

Msm8960sg by Qualcomm

Msm8962 by Qualcomm

Msm8976 by Qualcomm

Msm8976sg by Qualcomm

Msm8996au by Qualcomm

Pm215 by Qualcomm

Pm3003a by Qualcomm

Pm4125 by Qualcomm

Pm439 by Qualcomm

Pm456 by Qualcomm

Pm6125 by Qualcomm

Pm6150 by Qualcomm