CVE-2024-38404
Published: 03 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-38404 is a high-severity Buffer Over-read (CWE-126) vulnerability in Qualcomm Ar8035 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked in the top 45.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-11 (Error Handling).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-38404 is a vulnerability that triggers a transient denial-of-service (DoS) condition in modems upon receipt of a registration accept Over-The-Air (OTA) message containing incorrect ciphering key data Information Element (IE). It affects Qualcomm modem components and is associated with CWE-126 (Buffer Over-read) and CWE-125 (Out-of-bounds Read). The issue was published on 2025-02-03 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H), highlighting its high availability impact without affecting confidentiality or integrity.
Remote attackers can exploit this vulnerability over the network with low complexity, no required privileges, and no user interaction. Successful exploitation results in a transient DoS, temporarily disrupting modem operations such as connectivity or processing.
The Qualcomm February 2025 security bulletin at https://docs.qualcomm.com/product/publicresources/securitybulletin/february-2025-bulletin.html provides details on mitigation, including affected products and available patches.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-37106
Vulnerability details
Transient DOS when registration accept OTA is received with incorrect ciphering key data IE in modem.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
The vulnerability enables remote exploitation of a buffer over-read flaw in modem firmware via a crafted network message, directly causing application/system crash and transient denial of service (T1499.004).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly remediates the buffer over-read flaw in Qualcomm modems by applying vendor patches from the February 2025 security bulletin.
Validates the ciphering key data Information Element in incoming OTA registration accept messages to prevent processing malformed inputs that trigger buffer over-reads.
Ensures modem firmware handles errors from incorrect ciphering key data without crashing, avoiding transient DoS conditions.