Ioctl — CraftedSignal Threat Feed

Qualcomm Driver IOCTL Memory Corruption Vulnerability

hello@craftedsignal.io — Mon, 04 May 2026 17:16:21 +0000

A memory corruption vulnerability has been identified in Qualcomm drivers, tracked as CVE-2025-47408. This vulnerability occurs when one driver makes an Input/Output Control (IOCTL) call to another driver using a malformed or invalid input/output buffer. The flaw stems from improper validation or handling of the provided buffer, leading to a memory corruption condition. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could lead to arbitrary code execution, privilege escalation, or a denial-of-service condition. This vulnerability was disclosed in the May 2026 Qualcomm Security Bulletin. The potential impact necessitates that detection engineering teams prioritize identifying and mitigating this threat across systems utilizing affected Qualcomm components.

Attack Chain

An attacker gains initial access to the system, potentially through social engineering or exploiting another vulnerability.
The attacker identifies a vulnerable Qualcomm driver that is susceptible to IOCTL calls with invalid buffers.
The attacker develops a malicious driver or application capable of making IOCTL calls.
The malicious driver crafts a specific IOCTL request with a purposefully malformed input/output buffer.
The malicious driver sends the crafted IOCTL request to the targeted Qualcomm driver.
The targeted Qualcomm driver receives the IOCTL request and attempts to process the invalid buffer.
Due to the malformed buffer, the driver’s memory management routines are corrupted, leading to a write to an arbitrary memory location.
The attacker leverages the memory corruption to execute arbitrary code, escalate privileges, or cause a denial-of-service condition.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2025-47408 can have severe consequences. An attacker can gain complete control over the affected system, potentially leading to data theft, system compromise, or disruption of services. While the specific number of affected devices or sectors is not explicitly stated, the widespread use of Qualcomm components in various devices suggests a broad potential impact. If successful, this exploit could allow attackers to install persistent backdoors, steal sensitive information, or use the compromised device as a launching point for further attacks within the network.

Recommendation

Monitor process creations for unsigned or untrusted drivers being loaded, and deploy the first Sigma rule provided below, to identify potential malicious driver activity.
Enable driver verifier on test systems using Qualcomm drivers to trigger memory corruption issues and aid in reverse engineering the vulnerability.
Review Qualcomm’s May 2026 Security Bulletin for specific device models and affected driver versions to prioritize patching efforts.
Implement the second Sigma rule to detect suspicious IOCTL calls originating from unusual processes or locations, focusing on potential exploitation attempts of CVE-2025-47408.

Qualcomm IOCTL Memory Corruption Vulnerability (CVE-2026-21375)

hello@craftedsignal.io — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:16:30 +0000

CVE-2026-21375 is a memory corruption vulnerability affecting certain Qualcomm chipsets. The vulnerability stems from a lack of proper size validation when accessing an output buffer during IOCTL (Input/Output Control) processing. This flaw, disclosed in the April 2026 Qualcomm security bulletin, allows a local attacker with limited privileges to potentially overwrite memory, leading to denial of service or even arbitrary code execution. Successful exploitation requires a malicious application or process to interact with the vulnerable IOCTL interface on the target device. The vulnerability is classified as a buffer over-read (CWE-126).

Attack Chain

A malicious application is installed on a device with a vulnerable Qualcomm chipset.
The application gains the necessary permissions to interact with the device driver via IOCTL calls.
The malicious application crafts a specific IOCTL request with a small output buffer size.
The device driver processes the IOCTL request but fails to properly validate the output buffer size against the actual data being written.
The driver attempts to write data exceeding the allocated buffer size.
The excess data overwrites adjacent memory regions in kernel space.
This memory corruption can lead to a crash or, with careful manipulation, arbitrary code execution.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-21375 can result in a denial-of-service condition, where the device becomes unstable or unresponsive. In more severe scenarios, a local attacker could leverage the memory corruption to achieve arbitrary code execution with elevated privileges. Given the widespread use of Qualcomm chipsets in mobile devices and embedded systems, the potential impact could affect millions of devices globally.

Recommendation

Apply the security patches released by Qualcomm as detailed in the April 2026 security bulletin to remediate CVE-2026-21375.
Monitor process creation events for suspicious processes attempting to interact with device drivers, using the provided Sigma rule.
Implement runtime validation of IOCTL buffer sizes within kernel drivers to prevent buffer overflows (mitigation, not detection).

CVE-2026-21378 Memory Corruption in Camera Sensor Driver

hello@craftedsignal.io — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:16:30 +0000

CVE-2026-21378 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability affecting camera sensor drivers. This vulnerability stems from a failure to validate the size of an output buffer when processing IOCTL requests. An attacker with local access can leverage this flaw to potentially overwrite memory, leading to arbitrary code execution or denial of service. Qualcomm, Inc. reported this vulnerability, and it is documented in their April 2026 security bulletin. Exploitation could allow unauthorized privilege escalation on affected systems using the vulnerable driver.

Attack Chain

Attacker gains local access to a system with the vulnerable camera sensor driver installed.
Attacker crafts a malicious IOCTL request targeting the vulnerable camera sensor driver.
The malicious IOCTL request triggers the vulnerable code path in the driver related to output buffer handling.
The driver attempts to access the output buffer without properly validating its size, leading to a buffer over-read (CWE-126).
The buffer over-read corrupts memory adjacent to the output buffer.
The attacker carefully crafts the IOCTL request to overwrite critical kernel data structures.
By overwriting kernel structures, the attacker gains elevated privileges or control of the system.
The attacker executes arbitrary code with kernel privileges, potentially installing malware or causing a denial-of-service condition.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-21378 can lead to complete system compromise, including arbitrary code execution with kernel-level privileges. The number of affected devices is currently unknown, but any system utilizing the vulnerable camera sensor driver is potentially at risk. The vulnerability can be exploited locally, making it a concern for devices with unpatched drivers. A successful attack can result in data theft, system instability, or the installation of persistent malware.

Recommendation

Apply the patch or update provided by Qualcomm in their April 2026 security bulletin to remediate CVE-2026-21378 (https://docs.qualcomm.com/product/publicresources/securitybulletin/april-2026-bulletin.html).
Monitor systems for suspicious IOCTL activity targeting camera sensor drivers. Create a rule to detect abnormal IOCTL calls to camera devices.
Enable driver verifier to detect memory corruption issues during driver execution, aiding in the identification of potential exploitation attempts.

Qualcomm IOCTL Memory Corruption Vulnerability

hello@craftedsignal.io — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 16:16:29 +0000

CVE-2026-21372 describes a memory corruption vulnerability affecting systems that handle IOCTL requests, specifically during memcpy operations. The vulnerability arises when the system does not properly validate buffer sizes, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow (CWE-122). This flaw can be triggered by sending IOCTL requests with invalid buffer sizes, potentially allowing an attacker with local access to execute arbitrary code or cause a denial-of-service condition. Qualcomm reported this vulnerability in their April 2026 security bulletin. Successful exploitation requires the attacker to have the ability to send specifically crafted IOCTL requests to the vulnerable driver or service.

Attack Chain

Attacker gains local access to the system.
Attacker identifies the vulnerable driver or service that processes IOCTL requests.
Attacker crafts a malicious IOCTL request with an invalid buffer size, specifically designed to trigger a buffer overflow during a memcpy operation.
Attacker sends the crafted IOCTL request to the vulnerable driver or service.
The driver or service attempts to copy data into a buffer using memcpy, without properly validating the size of the input buffer.
Due to the invalid buffer size, the memcpy operation writes beyond the allocated buffer, causing a heap-based buffer overflow.
The heap overflow corrupts adjacent memory regions, potentially overwriting critical data structures or code.
The memory corruption leads to a denial-of-service condition or allows the attacker to execute arbitrary code with the privileges of the vulnerable driver or service.

Impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-21372 allows a local attacker to cause memory corruption, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or a denial-of-service condition. This could allow attackers to gain elevated privileges or disrupt the normal operation of the affected system. The impact is significant due to the potential for complete system compromise if code execution is achieved.

Recommendation

Investigate systems which utilize Qualcomm components for vulnerable IOCTL handlers and memcpy operations.
Monitor process execution for anomalous memory access patterns associated with drivers that handle IOCTL requests.
Apply patches or updates provided by Qualcomm to address CVE-2026-21372 as detailed in the Qualcomm security bulletin (https://docs.qualcomm.com/product/publicresources/securitybulletin/april-2026-bulletin.html).
Implement robust input validation for IOCTL requests to prevent buffer overflows, focusing on buffer size checks before memcpy operations.
Deploy the Sigma rule provided below to detect potential exploitation attempts by monitoring for processes interacting with device drivers and triggering a memcpy near the IOCTL call.