CVE-2025-27039 is a vulnerability identified in Qualcomm Snapdragon chipsets, specifically affecting the processing of IOCTL calls related to DMM/WARPNCC CONFIG requests. The root cause is a CWE-390 weakness, which means an error condition is detected but no appropriate action is taken, leading to memory corruption. This memory corruption can cause system instability or crashes, impacting the availability and integrity of affected devices. The vulnerability affects several Snapdragon-related products, including FastConnect 6900 and 7800 wireless connectivity modules, and audio and wireless system chips such as SXR2230P, SXR2250P, WCD9380, WCD9385, WSA8830, WSA8832, and WSA8835. The CVSS v3.1 score is 6.6 (medium severity), with an attack vector requiring local access (AV:L), low attack complexity (AC:L), requiring privileges (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), and impacts on confidentiality (C:L), integrity (I:L), and availability (A:H). The vulnerability does not require user interaction but does require local privileges, indicating that an attacker must already have some level of access to the device to exploit it. No public exploits are known at this time, and no patches have been linked yet, suggesting that mitigation is currently limited to access control and monitoring. The vulnerability’s presence in widely used Snapdragon components means it could affect a broad range of mobile devices, IoT devices, and embedded systems that rely on these chipsets for wireless connectivity and audio processing. The improper handling of error conditions without corrective action is a common programming oversight that can lead to unpredictable behavior and memory corruption, which attackers could leverage to cause denial of service or potentially escalate privileges if combined with other vulnerabilities.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2025-27039 primarily concerns the availability and integrity of devices using affected Snapdragon components. Many enterprises and critical infrastructure sectors rely on mobile devices, IoT endpoints, and embedded systems powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon chips for communication and operational functions. Memory corruption vulnerabilities can lead to device crashes, service interruptions, or unstable behavior, which in critical environments could disrupt business continuity or safety systems. Although confidentiality impact is low, the potential for denial of service or system instability can affect operational technology, mobile workforce productivity, and connected device reliability. The requirement for local privileges limits remote exploitation, but insider threats or compromised devices could be leveraged to exploit this vulnerability. European organizations with large deployments of Snapdragon-based devices, especially in telecommunications, manufacturing, and public sector, should consider this vulnerability a moderate risk. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate the risk of future weaponization. The lack of patches at present means organizations must rely on compensating controls until updates are available.

1. Monitor Qualcomm’s advisories closely for official patches or firmware updates addressing CVE-2025-27039 and apply them promptly once available. 2. Restrict local access to devices running affected Snapdragon components by enforcing strict user privilege management and limiting administrative access to trusted personnel only. 3. Implement endpoint detection and response (EDR) solutions to monitor for anomalous behavior indicative of memory corruption or exploitation attempts on affected devices. 4. For enterprise mobile devices, enforce mobile device management (MDM) policies that control application installation and local access rights to reduce the risk of privilege escalation. 5. Network segmentation should be used to isolate critical systems and reduce the potential impact of compromised devices. 6. Conduct regular security audits and vulnerability assessments on devices incorporating affected chipsets to identify and remediate potential exploitation vectors. 7. Educate IT and security teams about the nature of CWE-390 vulnerabilities to improve detection and response capabilities. 8. Where possible, disable or limit the use of vulnerable IOCTL interfaces if they are not required for device operation, reducing the attack surface.