CVE-2022-33211 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

This article provides an overview of CVE-2022-33211, a critical vulnerability affecting Qualcomm's Snapdragon Industrial IOT devices.

Understanding CVE-2022-33211

CVE-2022-33211 is a memory corruption vulnerability in the modem component of Qualcomm's Snapdragon Industrial IOT devices. The vulnerability is due to improper validation while calculating the size of a serialized CoAP message.

What is CVE-2022-33211?

The CVE-2022-33211 vulnerability allows remote attackers to exploit the memory corruption issue in the modem component, leading to a high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected systems.

The Impact of CVE-2022-33211

The impact of CVE-2022-33211 is severe, with a CVSS base score of 9.8 (Critical). The attack complexity is low, requiring no privileges. The vulnerability can be exploited over the network without user interaction, compromising the target system's confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Technical Details of CVE-2022-33211

This section covers the technical details of the CVE-2022-33211 vulnerability.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability results from a memory corruption issue in the modem component of Qualcomm's Snapdragon Industrial IOT devices. It occurs due to improper input validation when calculating the size of a serialized CoAP message.

Affected Systems and Versions

The affected platforms include Snapdragon Industrial IOT devices with various versions of modem components, such as 9205 LTE Modem, 9206 LTE Modem, MDM8207, QCA4004, and more.

Exploitation Mechanism

Remote attackers can exploit CVE-2022-33211 by sending specially crafted CoAP messages to the vulnerable devices, triggering the memory corruption in the modem and potentially gaining unauthorized access or causing system crashes.

Mitigation and Prevention

To mitigate the risks associated with CVE-2022-33211, users and organizations are advised to take the following steps:

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply security patches and updates provided by Qualcomm to address the vulnerability.
Implement network security controls to restrict access to vulnerable devices.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update firmware and software to protect against known vulnerabilities.
Conduct security assessments and penetration testing on IOT devices to identify and remediate potential security weaknesses.

Patching and Updates

Refer to the official April 2023 security bulletin published by Qualcomm for detailed information on patches and updates for CVE-2022-33211.