Security Resilience

CVE-2023-33040

Memory Safety in Qualcomm Snapdragon 8C Compute Platform Firmware

Published
02 January 2024
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0034 26th percentile
Risk Priority 57 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-33040 is a high-severity Buffer Over-read (CWE-126) vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon 8C Compute Platform Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Protocol or Service Impersonation (T1001.003); ranked at the 26th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-8 (Security and Privacy Engineering Principles) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Transient DOS in Data Modem during DTLS handshake.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
T1003 OS Credential Dumping Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to dump credentials to obtain account login and credential material, normally in the form of a hash or a clear text password.
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
T1003.006 DCSync Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access credentials and other sensitive information by abusing a Windows Domain Controller's application programming interface (API)(Citation: Microsoft DRSR Dec 2017) (Citation: Microsoft GetNCCChanges) (Citati…
T1003.007 Proc Filesystem Credential Access
Adversaries may gather credentials from the proc filesystem or `/proc`.
T1005 Data from Local System Collection
Adversaries may search local system sources, such as file systems, configuration files, local databases, virtual machine files, or process memory, to find files of interest and sensitive data prior to Exfiltration.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28566Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-33062Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-43536Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-28568Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-24849Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-24848Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2025-21429Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-28569Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-28563Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-33112Same product: Qualcomm Ar8035

Affected Assets

qualcomm
315 5g iot modem firmware
all versions
qualcomm
aqt1000 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
ar8035 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csra6620 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csra6640 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csrb31024 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6200 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6700 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6800 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 6900 firmware
all versions
+134 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (static analysis, fuzzing, bounds checking tests) directly finds buffer over-read flaws.

Engineering principles such as memory-safe design and bounds-checked abstractions structurally stop introduction of out-of-bounds reads.

Process isolation limits the blast radius of an over-read to the compromised domain.

Input validation enforces length and index constraints that prevent many externally triggered over-reads.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

ID.RA-01 partial match
blocks

Vulnerability identification processes can discover buffer over-read flaws via scanning or review.

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching or replacing vulnerable software removes known instances of buffer over-read bugs.

PR.PS-06 partial match
blocks

Secure development practices directly prevent introduction of buffer over-read weaknesses.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

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References