Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-27038

Memory Safety in Qualcomm Ar8031 Firmware

CISA KEVActive ExploitationEUVD ExploitedMemory Safety
Published
03 June 2025
Modified
17 June 2026
KEV Added
03 June 2025
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.5
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0083 54th percentile
Risk Priority 82 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-27038 is a high-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in Qualcomm Ar8031 Firmware. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Client Execution (T1203); ranked in the top 46% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; CISA has added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities 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.

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-2025-27038 is a memory corruption vulnerability, classified under CWE-416, that occurs while rendering graphics using Adreno GPU drivers in Chrome. The flaw affects Qualcomm's Adreno GPU driver components integrated with the Chrome browser and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.5.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by serving specially crafted web content that triggers the GPU rendering path, requiring user interaction such as visiting a malicious page. Successful exploitation can result in high impacts to confidentiality, integrity, and availability on affected systems.

The June 2025 Qualcomm security bulletin addresses the flaw with driver updates, while CISA lists the CVE in its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, indicating that mitigations should be applied promptly through vendor patches and browser updates.

The associated EPSS score remains flat at 0.0137 with no material increase observed after disclosure.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Memory corruption while rendering graphics using Adreno GPU drivers in Chrome.

CWE(s)
CWE-416
KEV Date Added
03 June 2025

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

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

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2024-43047Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800both on KEV
CVE-2022-22071Same product: Qualcomm Ar8031both on KEV
CVE-2023-33063Same product: Qualcomm Ar8031both on KEV
CVE-2021-1905Same product: Qualcomm Ar8031both on KEV
CVE-2024-38421Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800
CVE-2024-33033Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800
CVE-2024-23384Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800
CVE-2024-23382Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800
CVE-2024-49848Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800
CVE-2024-38424Same product: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800

Affected Assets

qualcomm
ar8031 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csra6620 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
csra6640 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
fastconnect 7800 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qca2066 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qca6391 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qcm6125 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qcm8550 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qcn9011 firmware
all versions
qualcomm
qcn9012 firmware
all versions
+34 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)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SA-11 Developer Testing and Evaluation good match

Developer testing and evaluation can discover use-after-free bugs through dynamic analysis or fuzzing.

SA-8 Security and Privacy Engineering Principles partial match

Engineering principles can require memory-safe constructs or languages that structurally avoid introducing use-after-free.

SC-39 Process Isolation partial match

Process isolation confines the blast radius of use-after-free memory corruption to a single execution domain.

SI-16 Memory Protection partial match

Memory protection controls limit exploitation impact by blocking unauthorized code execution from dangling pointers.

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 SDLC practices directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

A.8.32 Change management partial match
prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (1 rule)
  • V-248592 OL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230279 RHEL 8 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416
RHEL 9 (1 rule)
  • V-257794 RHEL 9 must clear memory when it is freed to prevent use-after-free attacks. prevents CWE-416

References