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Threats / Qualcomm / CVE-2020-11261
CVE-2020-11261 · EUVD no mirror located · GCVE no mirror located Verified 2026-06-22

Qualcomm Snapdragon Auto, Compute, Connectivity, Consumer IO vulnerability

Memory corruption in Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms due to improper validation of large memory allocation requests, allowing potential code execution or denial of service.

Verdict

Today item — known-exploited.

A memory corruption vulnerability affecting multiple Snapdragon product lines stems from insufficient error checking when applications request excessive memory allocation. This can be exploited to corrupt memory and potentially achieve code execution or crash the device.

CISA KEV Yes · 2021-12-013EPSS 0.01772 (verify live)4
01

Is it exploitable?

— the evidence, ranked above the score
Reported exploitation
2 independent public reports of in-the-wild exploitation are cataloged.Distinct reporting sources (vendor, incident response, government); open them for the underlying claims.
Exploited in the wild
Listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog (added 2021-12-01).
CISA KEV ↗Confirmed
Probability (EPSS)
EPSS 0.01772 — modeled likelihood of exploitation activity.EPSS is a daily-changing model output — open the source for today's value.
Severity / affected
Affected: Qualcomm, Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables. Confirm exact fixed builds in the vendor advisory.
NVD ↗Reported
Weakness (CWE)
Mapped to CWE-20 Improper Input Validation.CWE assignment from the public NVD record; the weakness class drives how the flaw is exploited.
NVD ↗Reported
02

Who’s exploiting it?

— attribution turns risk into urgency
Attribution not established

No confirmed (advisory-backed) threat-actor attribution is established for this record. Absence of a named actor is not absence of compromise — see Coverage & confidence.

03

Why it matters

— the attack path, told twice: adversary, then board
1

Front door — unauthenticated access narrative 1

Attacker
I craft a malicious application that requests an abnormally large memory allocation to trigger the validation bypass.
Business
Device stability and integrity are compromised through memory corruption, leading to potential service disruption or unauthorized code execution.
2

Keys to the kingdom — privilege/identity takeover narrative 2

Attacker
I exploit the memory corruption to overwrite adjacent memory regions and gain elevated privileges or execute arbitrary code.
Business
User data confidentiality and device security are at risk if attackers achieve code execution on affected Snapdragon devices across consumer, industrial, and automotive deployments.
04

What to do

— defensible action
  • Remediate per the vendor advisory — confirm the fixed build for your version and verify exposure.1
Say it to the boardA vulnerability with this evidence profile is a defensible budget line, not a backlog ticket — fund the change against the proof above.
05

Coverage & confidence

— what we know, and what we don’t

Established (cited)

  • KEV listing (CISA)
  • EPSS probability (FIRST)
  • 2 reported-exploitation source(s)
  • CWE weakness mapping (NVD)
  • Catalogued by qualcomm (CNA)
  • Coverage gaps — stated, not hidden

  • No EUVD / GCVE mirror in feed — single-authority dependency for the identifier.
  • EPSS & exposure are time-varying; verify live at the source.
  • Threat-actor attribution not established from feed data — absence of a name is not absence of compromise.
  • No finder/reporter credit recorded in the public CVE entry — the work behind this find is unattributed.
  • Disclosure & credit2
    Catalogued by qualcommCNA
    Credited with finding itNo finder named in the public CVE record — the work behind this find is unattributed.