# CVE-2018-5891: Use after free in Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Wear

> A use-after-free vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon firmware allows attackers to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial of service.

- **Severity:** High 8.4 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 6 Jul 2018
- **Updated:** 17 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q39p-c62c-433g

## What is CVE-2018-5891?

CVE-2018-5891 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Qualcomm Msm8909w Firmware, published on 6 Jul 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

While processing modem SSR after IMS is registered, the IMS data daemon is restarted but the ipc_dataHandle is no longer available. Consequently, the DPL thread frees the internal memory for dataDHandle but the local variable pointer is not updated which can lead to a Use After Free condition in Snapdragon Mobile and Snapdragon Wear.

Weakness: CWE-416 (Use After Free)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-5891?

It affects 15 products.


Products: Qualcomm Msm8909w Firmware, Qualcomm Msm8996au Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 205 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 210 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 212 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 415 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 450 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 615 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 616 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 625 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 650 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 652 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 820 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 835 Firmware, Qualcomm Sd 845 Firmware.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-5891?

No fix has been published for CVE-2018-5891 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2018-5891 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Qualcomm Msm8909w Firmware

- [CVE-2019-2285](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-2285/): Memory corruption in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-10509](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10509/): Use after free in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-10538](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-10538/): Memory corruption in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-2255](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-2255/): Code injection in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2019-2259](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-2259/): Denial of service in Snapdragon Auto, Snapdragon Compute, Snapdragon Connectivity, Snapdragon Consumer IOT, Snapdragon Industrial IOT, Snapdragon Mobile, Snapdragon Voice & Music, Snapdragon Wearables (critical 9.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-5891 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-5891 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Qualcomm Msm8909w Firmware, published on 6 Jul 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-5891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Qualcomm Msm8909w 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-2018-5891/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5891/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-5891
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-5891
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-5891

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-5891/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.