Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-45555

Memory Safety in Qualcomm Msm8996Au Firmware

Published
06 January 2025
Modified
13 January 2025
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.4
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0014 4th percentile
Risk Priority 59 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-45555 is a high-severity Out-of-bounds Write (CWE-787) vulnerability in Qualcomm Msm8996Au Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 8.4 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 4th 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-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

CVE-2024-45555 is a memory corruption vulnerability (CWE-787, CWE-190) in the IFS2 image verification process within Qualcomm products. It arises when an already verified IFS2 image is overwritten, bypassing boot verification mechanisms. This flaw allows unauthorized programs to be injected into security-sensitive images, enabling the booting of a tampered IFS2 system image. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.4 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H) and was published on 2025-01-06.

A local attacker can exploit this vulnerability with low attack complexity and no privileges or user interaction required. By overwriting the verified IFS2 image, the attacker achieves memory corruption, injecting malicious code into security-sensitive boot images. Successful exploitation enables booting a fully tampered IFS2 system image, compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability at a high level.

Mitigation details are provided in the Qualcomm January 2025 Security Bulletin, available at https://docs.qualcomm.com/product/publicresources/securitybulletin/january-2025-bulletin.html.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Memory corruption can occur if an already verified IFS2 image is overwritten, bypassing boot verification. This allows unauthorized programs to be injected into security-sensitive images, enabling the booting of a tampered IFS2 system image.

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.
T1211 Exploitation for Stealth Stealth
Adversaries may exploit vulnerabilities to evade detection by hiding activity, suppressing logging, or operating within trusted or unmonitored components.
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-2024-53030Same product: Qualcomm Msm8996Au
CVE-2024-53029Same product: Qualcomm Qam8255P
CVE-2024-53031Same product: Qualcomm Qam8255P
CVE-2024-53012Same product: Qualcomm Qam8255P
CVE-2023-21632Same product: Qualcomm Msm8996Au
CVE-2023-21643Same product: Qualcomm Msm8996Au
CVE-2024-53022Same product: Qualcomm Qam8255P
CVE-2024-45581Same product: Qualcomm Qam8295P
CVE-2023-33032Same product: Qualcomm Qca6564A
CVE-2023-22666Same product: Qualcomm Msm8996Au

Affected Assets

qualcomm
msm8996au firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qam8255p firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qam8295p firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qam8620p firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qam8650p firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qam8775p firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qamsrv1h firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qamsrv1m firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qca6564a firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qca6564au firmware
all versions
+31 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)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Developer testing and evaluation (including fuzzing and bounds checks) finds out-of-bounds write flaws before deployment.

Requiring documented secure-development standards and tools can mandate bounds-checked coding practices that avoid the weakness.

Secure engineering principles require use of safe arithmetic constructs or language features that structurally eliminate integer overflow during calculation.

Input validation can structurally reject or sanitize data that would otherwise trigger an out-of-bounds write.

Memory-protection mechanisms limit the exploitability and blast radius of a successful out-of-bounds write.

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 (static analysis, bounds checking, code review) are the primary means of preventing out-of-bounds writes.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability scanning and recording can discover out-of-bounds write flaws so they can be remediated.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching or replacing vulnerable software directly eliminates known instances of this coding weakness.

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.

finds

Security testing in development and acceptance can detect and prevent out-of-bounds write defects.

prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates practices that prevent out-of-bounds writes.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify bounds-checking and safe memory handling.

prevents

Secure architecture and engineering principles reduce the likelihood of buffer overflows.

prevents

Secure coding directly addresses out-of-bounds writes through language choice and coding standards.

prevents

Change management can enforce review gates that catch unsafe memory operations before deployment.

References