CVE-2023-33119VulnerabilityPublished 6 May 2024Updated 16 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-33119: Qualcomm Snapdragon · Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Affects Qualcomm SnapdragonSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 8.4 High.

Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

8.4High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.07% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 0% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 6 May 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

1. Monitor Qualcomm and device vendors for official patches or firmware updates addressing CVE-2023-33119 and apply them promptly across all affected devices. 2. Implement strict supply chain validation to ensure VM images are securely signed and verified with mechanisms that guarantee cache coherency and atomicity during loading. 3. Employ runtime integrity monitoring and anomaly detection on devices to identify suspicious VM loading behavior or memory corruption attempts. 4. For enterprise-managed devices, enforce policies restricting installation of unsigned or unverified VM images and limit administrative privileges to reduce exploitation risk. 5. Collaborate with hardware and software vendors to validate cache management and VM loading processes in development and testing environments. 6. Increase network segmentation and access controls around critical devices using affected Snapdragon platforms to limit attacker lateral movement. 7. Educate security teams about TOCTOU vulnerabilities and encourage threat hunting focused on memory corruption and VM manipulation indicators. 8. For automotive and industrial deployments, coordinate with OEMs to prioritize updates and conduct risk assessments considering safety implications. 9. Maintain up-to-date inventories of devices using vulnerable Snapdragon components to prioritize patching and monitoring efforts. 10. Consider deploying endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions capable of detecting exploitation attempts targeting low-level hardware vulnerabilities.

Description

CVE-2023-33119 is a high-severity TOCTOU race condition vulnerability in Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms that leads to memory corruption when loading a VM from a signed VM image that is not coherent in the processor cache. It affects a wide range of Snapdragon SoCs and related products, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability without requiring user interaction or privileges. The vulnerability arises from a time-of-check to time-of-use flaw (CWE-367) where cache incoherency allows an attacker to manipulate VM images during loading. Although no known exploits are reported in the wild yet, the broad product impact and high CVSS score (8.4) make it a critical concern for devices using affected Snapdragon components. European organizations relying on mobile, IoT, automotive, or edge computing devices with these chipsets could face risks of device compromise or data breaches. Mitigation requires applying vendor patches once available, ensuring secure VM image handling, and monitoring for suspicious activity related to VM loading processes. Countries with high adoption of Snapdragon-based devices, such as Germany, France, UK, and Nordic states, are most likely to be impacted due to market penetration and strategic use of affected platforms.

Impact

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-33119 is significant due to the widespread use of Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms in smartphones, automotive systems, IoT devices, and edge computing infrastructure. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized code execution, data leakage, or service disruption on devices critical for business operations, communications, or industrial control. Confidentiality breaches could expose sensitive corporate or personal data, while integrity violations might allow attackers to implant persistent malware or manipulate device behavior. Availability impacts could disrupt mobile communications or automotive safety systems, posing safety risks. The vulnerability's presence in automotive and industrial platforms raises concerns for sectors like manufacturing, transportation, and critical infrastructure. Given the lack of required privileges or user interaction, attackers could exploit this remotely or via local network vectors, increasing the attack surface. The absence of known exploits currently provides a window for proactive defense, but the high severity demands urgent attention to prevent potential targeted attacks or supply chain compromises affecting European entities.

Summary

CVE-2023-33119 is a vulnerability classified as a time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition (CWE-367) in Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms. The flaw occurs during the loading of a virtual machine (VM) from a signed VM image that is not coherent in the processor cache, leading to memory corruption. This incoherency allows an attacker to exploit the timing window between the verification of the VM image and its actual use, potentially substituting or modifying the VM image in memory. The affected products span a vast array of Qualcomm Snapdragon SoCs and related platforms, including mobile, compute, automotive, and IoT chipsets such as Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/2/3, Snapdragon 865/888 series, FastConnect modules, and various modem-RF systems. The vulnerability does not require privileges or user interaction to exploit, increasing its risk profile. The CVSS v3.1 score is 8.4, indicating high severity with impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Exploitation could allow attackers to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or cause denial of service by corrupting memory during VM loading. Although no public exploits are known, the broad scope and critical nature necessitate prompt mitigation. The root cause lies in improper handling of cache coherence during VM image verification and loading, a subtle hardware-software interaction issue. Qualcomm and ecosystem partners need to address this through firmware and software updates that ensure atomicity and cache coherency during VM image processing.

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: Medium
The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check.
Implementation
The most basic advice for TOCTOU vulnerabilities is to not perform a check before the use. This does not resolve the underlying issue of the execution of a function on a resource whose state and identity cannot be assured, but it does help to limit the false sense of security given by the check.
Implementation
When the file being altered is owned by the current user and group, set the effective gid and uid to that of the current user and group when executing this statement.
Architecture and Design
Limit the interleaving of operations on files from multiple processes.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Abuse Case (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V1.11.3 (opens in a new tab)
V11.1.6 (opens in a new tab)
V1.11.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Leveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Links (opens in a new tab)
Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

docs.qualcomm.com/product/publicresources/securitybulletin/may-2024-bulletin.html (opens in a new tab)

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 23 Dec 2025, 18:27 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-367

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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