CVE-2023-43548

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-43548?

CVE-2023-43548 has a CVSS score of 7.3 (HIGH). This vulnerability allows memory corruption when parsing QCP audio files with invalid chunk data sizes. Attackers could potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by tricking users into opening malicious QCP files. This affects Qualcomm chipsets and devices using vulnerable multimedia processing components.

7.3 HIGH

Buffer Overflow

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability allows memory corruption when parsing QCP audio files with invalid chunk data sizes. Attackers could potentially execute arbitrary code or cause denial of service by tricking users into opening malicious QCP files. This affects Qualcomm chipsets and devices using vulnerable multimedia processing components.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Qualcomm chipsets with multimedia processing capabilities

Versions: Multiple Qualcomm chipset versions prior to March 2024 security updates

Operating Systems: Android, Linux-based systems using Qualcomm chipsets

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Affects devices using Qualcomm's multimedia framework for QCP file processing

📦 What is this software?

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

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

🟠

Likely Case

Application crash or denial of service affecting multimedia playback functionality.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper sandboxing and memory protection mechanisms in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: MEDIUM

🏢 Internal Only: LOW

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires user interaction to open malicious QCP file

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: March 2024 Qualcomm security updates

Vendor Advisory: https://www.qualcomm.com/company/product-security/bulletins/march-2024-bulletin

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Check device manufacturer for available security updates. 2. Apply March 2024 or later Qualcomm security patches. 3. Reboot device after update installation.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable QCP file processing

all

Block or disable QCP file handling in affected applications

Application sandboxing

linux

Run multimedia applications with reduced privileges and memory protections

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Implement application whitelisting to prevent unauthorized QCP file execution
Deploy network filtering to block QCP files from untrusted sources

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check device security patch level - if before March 2024, likely vulnerable

Check Version:

On Android: Settings > About phone > Android security patch level

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify security patch level shows March 2024 or later Qualcomm updates

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Application crashes during QCP file processing
Memory access violation errors in system logs

Network Indicators:

Unexpected QCP file downloads from untrusted sources

SIEM Query:

source="*kernel*" AND ("segmentation fault" OR "memory corruption") AND "qcp"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-43548

CVSS v3 Score: 7.3 (HIGH)

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

CWE: CWE-120

Published: March 4, 2024

Last Updated: August 11, 2025

🔗 References

https://www.qualcomm.com/company/product-security/bulletins/march-2024-bulletin Vendor Advisory
https://www.qualcomm.com/company/product-security/bulletins/march-2024-bulletin Vendor Advisory

📋 TL;DR

💻 Affected Systems

📦 What is this software?

Aqt1000 Firmware by Qualcomm

Fastconnect 6200 Firmware by Qualcomm

Fastconnect 6700 Firmware by Qualcomm

Fastconnect 6800 Firmware by Qualcomm

Fastconnect 6900 Firmware by Qualcomm

Fastconnect 7800 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qam8255p Firmware by Qualcomm

Qam8295p Firmware by Qualcomm

Qam8650p Firmware by Qualcomm

Qam8775p Firmware by Qualcomm

Qamsrv1h Firmware by Qualcomm

Qamsrv1m Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6310 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6320 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6391 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6420 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6430 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6574 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6574a Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6574au Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6595 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6595au Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6678aq Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6696 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qca6698aq Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcm2290 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcm4290 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcm4490 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcm6490 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcn7606 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcs2290 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcs410 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcs4290 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcs4490 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcs610 Firmware by Qualcomm

Qcs6490 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa4150p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa4155p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa6145p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa6150p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa6155p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8145p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8150p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8155p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8195p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8255p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8295p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8650p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8770p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa8775p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sa9000p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd 8 Gen1 5g Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd660 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd670 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd730 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd835 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd855 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd865 5g Firmware by Qualcomm

Sd888 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sm6250 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sm7250p Firmware by Qualcomm

Sm7315 Firmware by Qualcomm

Sm7325p Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 4 Gen 2 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 460 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 480 5g Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 480 5g Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 660 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 662 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 665 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 670 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 675 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 678 Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 680 4g Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 685 4g Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm

Snapdragon 690 5g Mobile Firmware by Qualcomm