# CVE-2015-9166: Missing authorization in Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wear

> Insufficient checks in DRM provisioning allow bypassing the finalization flag, enabling unauthorized provisioning on affected Qualcomm Snapdragon devices.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 18 Apr 2018
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-w364-qgrh-wr5r

## What is CVE-2015-9166?

CVE-2015-9166 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Qualcomm Ipq4019 Firmware, published on 18 Apr 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile, and Snapdragon Wear IPQ4019, MDM9206, MDM9607, MDM9650, MSM8909W, SD 210/SD 212/SD 205, SD 400, SD 410/12, SD 425, SD 430, SD 450, SD 615/16/SD 415, SD 617, SD 625, SD 650/52, SD 808, SD 810, SD 820, SD 820A, SD 835, SD 845, and SD 850, DRM provisioning mechanisms used in QSEE applications have a feature to prevent further provisioning. This is done by creating an SFS file called 'finalize_prov_flag.data' at the end of provisioning. When this feature is enabled, provisioning calls check for the existence of the file in order to decide whether to do provisioning or not. Current implementation allows provisioning without sufficient checks.

Weakness: CWE-19

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2015-9166?

It affects 29 products.


Products: Qualcomm Ipq4019 Firmware, Qualcomm Mdm9206 Firmware, Qualcomm Mdm9607 Firmware, Qualcomm Mdm9650 Firmware, Qualcomm Msm8909w Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 205 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 210 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 212 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 400 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 410 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 412 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 415 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 425 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 430 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 450 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 615 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 616 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 617 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 625 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 650 Firmware and 9 more.

## How do I fix CVE-2015-9166?

No fix has been published for CVE-2015-9166 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2015-9166 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-9166 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Ipq4019 Firmware

- [CVE-2020-11172](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11172/): Memory corruption in Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2020-11117](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-11117/): Command injection in Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Wired Infrastructure and Networking (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-10045](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-10045/): Memory corruption in Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wear (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-9988](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9988/): Memory corruption in Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wear (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2014-9998](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-9998/): In Android before 2018-04-05 or earlier security patch level on Qualcomm Snapdragon Automobile, Snapdragon Mobile, and Snapdragon Wear IPQ40 (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2015-9166 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2015-9166 is a high-severity missing authorization vulnerability in Qualcomm Ipq4019 Firmware, published on 18 Apr 2018. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2015-9166 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Qualcomm Ipq4019 Firmware. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9166/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9166/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2015-9166
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2015-9166
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2015-9166

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9166/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.