CVE-2015-9141

Vulnerability

A buffer overflow vulnerability exists in the Hardware Handover (HHO) procedure of the Acquisition (ACQ) process in Qualcomm Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear firmware. Affected chips include MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9635M, MSM8909W, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 430, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 800, SD 808, and SD 810. The search database is incorrectly updated during ACQ, leading to memory corruption due to a buffer overflow. The vulnerability is addressed in the Android security patch level of 2018-04-05 or earlier [1].

Exploitation

An attacker with local access to the device and the ability to trigger the HHO ACQ procedure may exploit the buffer overflow. The exact attack vector is not detailed in the reference, but it requires the attacker to interact with the radio stack or modem firmware. No user interaction is needed beyond normal device operation in a vulnerable radio environment.

Impact

Successful exploitation results in memory corruption, which could lead to denial of service or potential escalation of privilege within the modem processor. The impact is limited to the affected Qualcomm components and may enable arbitrary code execution at the modem level.

Mitigation

The vulnerability is fixed in the Android security patch level of 2018-04-05 or earlier [1]. Devices running a later patch level are not affected. There is no indication that the vulnerability is listed in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.