CVE-2023-24851 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

This article provides detailed information about CVE-2023-24851, focusing on the impact, technical details, and mitigation strategies associated with this vulnerability in Qualcomm products.

Understanding CVE-2023-24851

CVE-2023-24851 is a memory corruption vulnerability identified in WLAN HOST in Qualcomm products. The vulnerability occurs during the parsing of QMI response messages from firmware, leading to potential exploitation by malicious actors.

What is CVE-2023-24851?

The CVE-2023-24851 vulnerability is related to buffer copy without checking the size of input in WLAN HOST, which can be exploited to execute arbitrary code and compromise the integrity, confidentiality, and availability of affected systems.

The Impact of CVE-2023-24851

The impact of CVE-2023-24851 is rated as high, with a CVSSv3 base score of 7.8. The vulnerability has a low attack complexity, requires low privileges for exploitation, and poses a significant threat to the affected systems' integrity, confidentiality, and availability.

Technical Details of CVE-2023-24851

This section delves into the vulnerability description, affected systems, versions, and the exploitation mechanism associated with CVE-2023-24851.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability involves memory corruption in WLAN HOST during the processing of QMI response messages from firmware. This can be exploited by attackers to trigger buffer copy operations without proper input size validation.

Affected Systems and Versions

Numerous Qualcomm products are affected by CVE-2023-24851, including various versions of Snapdragon, FastConnect, Flight RB5 5G Platform, Immersive Home Platform, IPQ series, QCN series, Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Wearables, and more.

Exploitation Mechanism

The vulnerability can be exploited by crafting malicious QMI response messages to trigger buffer copy operations in WLAN HOST, leading to memory corruption and potential execution of arbitrary code on the affected devices.

Mitigation and Prevention

To address CVE-2023-24851 and enhance the security posture of affected systems, immediate steps, long-term security practices, and patching guidelines should be implemented.

Immediate Steps to Take

Apply security patches provided by Qualcomm to address the vulnerability.
Monitor network traffic for any suspicious activities that could indicate an exploitation attempt.
Restrict network access and communication to minimize the attack surface.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly update firmware and software to patch known vulnerabilities.
Implement network segmentation and access controls to limit exposure to potential threats.
Conduct regular security assessments and penetration testing to identify and remediate security gaps.

Patching and Updates

Qualcomm has released security bulletins addressing CVE-2023-24851. Ensure that affected systems are updated with the latest patches to mitigate the risk of exploitation and secure the devices against potential attacks.