Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-38423

Memory Safety in Qualcomm Wsa8835 Firmware

Published
04 November 2024
Modified
07 November 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0010 1th percentile
Risk Priority 56 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-38423 is a high-severity Classic Buffer Overflow (CWE-120) vulnerability in Qualcomm Wsa8835 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.8 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 1th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Memory corruption while processing GPU page table switch.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
T1212 Exploitation for Credential Access Credential Access
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to collect credentials.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28546Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-43519Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-33017Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2023-33072Same product: Qualcomm 315 5G Iot Modem
CVE-2024-23368Same product: Qualcomm Apq8064Au
CVE-2023-28544Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-33069Same product: Qualcomm 9206 Lte Modem
CVE-2023-33068Same product: Qualcomm 9206 Lte Modem
CVE-2023-33077Same product: Qualcomm Aqt1000
CVE-2023-33023Same product: Qualcomm Apq8017

Affected Assets

qualcomm
wsa8835 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wsa8830 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wsa8815 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wsa8810 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wcn3990 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wcn3988 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wcn3980 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wcn3950 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wcn3910 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
wcn3680b firmware
all versions
+196 more product configuration(s) — see NVD for full list

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and analysis can find missing size checks before deployment.

Input validation directly enforces size checks before buffer copies.

Engineering principles require bounds checking and safe buffer handling in design.

Memory protection limits the impact of an overflow once it occurs.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure development practices directly enforce bounds checking and input validation that prevent classic buffer overflows.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes such as code review or scanning detect classic buffer overflows before exploitation.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching replaces vulnerable code containing unchecked buffer copies with corrected versions.

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.

prevents

Secure coding directly requires bounds-checked memory operations, addressing the root cause of CWE-120.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect buffer overflows through fuzzing and static analysis, though it does not prevent them at the source.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates processes that can include input validation and bounds checking to prevent buffer overflows.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify input-size validation and safe buffer handling to mitigate classic buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure system architecture and engineering principles promote defensive coding patterns that reduce the likelihood of unchecked buffer copies.

References