Exploiting Qualcomm WLAN and Modem Over The Air
summary
Research demonstrates full over‑the‑air compromise of Qualcomm WLAN firmware and escalation into the modem and Linux kernel. A real-time debugger plus a Wi‑Fi packet injector is used to find and exploit a buffer overflow in the offload handler (disclosed as CVE-2019-10540), convert a constrained write into an arbitrary write via function‑oriented programming, call a mapping routine to map modem physical memory into WLAN address space, patch modem code and then flip page permissions to get RWX and write into kernel physical memory. Demo works but is fragile (roughly 90% packet instability) and the flaws are patched.
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chapters (33)
- 0:00Intro
- 3:35MBA and Modem images
- 3:54Modem Secure Boot
- 5:08TOCTOU Vulnerability Bypass Secure Boot
- 6:00Debug Server Injection
- 7:23Qualcomm WLAN Architecture
- 8:33Example - WIFI List
- 9:40Firmware
- 10:06Reverse Engineering - Hint From Qualcomm
- 10:50Reverse Engineering - Offload Handlers
- 11:36Sample Offload Handler
- 13:08The Roadmap
- 13:38Mitigation Table (WLAN & Modem)
- 15:55The Vulnerability (CVE-2019-10540)
- 17:27Data & Address of Overflow
- 18:00Smart Pointer Around Overflow Memory
- 18:31Usage Of Smart Pointer
- 20:39Global Write With Constraint
- 22:31Control PC & RO
- 23:55Transform To Arbitrary Write
- 25:04Run Useful FOP Gadget
- 25:54Memory Mapping RWX
- 27:13Copy Shellcode to 0x42420000
- 28:18Trigger Shellcode
- 28:56From WLAN to Modem
- 30:26Map Modem Memory into WLAN
- 32:32The Attack Surfaces
- 33:14Memory Management of Qualcomm Multi-Processor
- 35:09CVE-2019-10538
- 37:55Deliver the Payload Over-The-Air
- 38:31Deliver the Payloads Using Pixel2
- 40:02Demo
- 43:32Future Works
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