CVE-2025-21432: Qualcomm Aqt1000 Use-After-Free Flaw

CVE-2025-21432 Overview

CVE-2025-21432 is a memory corruption vulnerability affecting a wide range of Qualcomm Snapdragon platforms and firmware components. The flaw occurs when Concise Binary Object Representation (CBOR) data is retrieved from a Trusted Application (TA) running in the Trusted Execution Environment (TEE). The underlying weakness is a double free condition [CWE-415], which can be triggered locally by an attacker with low privileges. Successful exploitation can compromise the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected component.

Critical Impact
A local attacker with low privileges can corrupt memory in the Qualcomm TEE communication path, potentially leading to arbitrary code execution or full compromise of the affected trusted component.

Affected Products

Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile platforms (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/2/3, 8+ Gen 1/2, 888, 865, 855, and additional mobile SoCs)
Qualcomm FastConnect Wi-Fi/Bluetooth subsystems (FastConnect 6200, 6700, 6800, 6900, 7800) and QCA/WCN/WCD/WSA connectivity and audio codecs
Qualcomm automotive (SA8xxx, QAM8xxx), compute (SC8380XP), XR/AR (Snapdragon XR1, XR2, AR1/AR2 Gen 1), wearable (W5+ Gen 1), and robotics (RB2, RB5) platforms

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-08 - CVE-2025-21432 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-21432

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the code path that retrieves CBOR-encoded data from a Trusted Application. CBOR is a compact binary serialization format used to pass structured data between the Rich Execution Environment (REE) and the TEE. During deserialization or buffer handoff, the same memory region is freed more than once, matching the pattern classified under CWE-415: Double Free.

A double free corrupts the heap allocator's internal metadata. On many Qualcomm firmware environments, this can be shaped into an arbitrary write primitive, allowing an attacker to overwrite function pointers or control-flow data used by the trusted component. Because the impacted logic sits at the boundary between userspace and the secure world, memory corruption here undermines the isolation guarantees the TEE is designed to provide.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper lifecycle management of a heap-allocated CBOR data buffer returned from a TA. The buffer is released on more than one code path, either through duplicate cleanup routines or mismatched ownership between the caller and callee. No compensating check invalidates the pointer after the first free(), so a subsequent release operates on a dangling or reallocated chunk.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access and low-privileged code execution on the device, such as a malicious or compromised Android application invoking the affected TA interface. The attacker crafts a sequence of TA requests that drive the vulnerable CBOR retrieval path, triggering the duplicate free. User interaction is not required. Remote network exploitation is not applicable to this attack surface.

// No verified exploit code is available for this CVE.
// Description only: the vulnerable flow releases the same CBOR
// data buffer twice along the TA-to-client return path, corrupting
// the heap allocator's freelist and enabling attacker-controlled writes.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-21432

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected crashes, kernel panics, or reboots in processes that interact with Qualcomm Trusted Applications through QSEECom or equivalent TEE client interfaces.
Repeated invocations of TA CBOR retrieval APIs from a single unprivileged process in a short time window, especially with malformed or oversized payloads.
Anomalous heap corruption signatures or SELinux denials involving TEE client libraries on affected Snapdragon devices.

Detection Strategies

Monitor mobile telemetry for repeated abnormal terminations of processes that call into libQSEEComAPI or vendor TEE client libraries.
Correlate application-installed events with subsequent bursts of TA interactions from the same UID to surface malicious apps probing the interface.
Track firmware and patch level compliance across the fleet to identify devices still exposed to Qualcomm July 2025 bulletin items.

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest Android security patch level (ro.build.version.security_patch) and Qualcomm vendor patch level from managed devices into your security data platform.
Alert on devices that fall behind the July 2025 (or later) Qualcomm patch baseline.
Baseline normal TA/TEE call rates per application and alert on statistical outliers indicative of exploitation attempts.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-21432

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the Qualcomm security patches referenced in the Qualcomm July 2025 Security Bulletin as delivered by your device OEM.
Inventory Snapdragon-based endpoints, IoT, automotive, and wearable assets against the affected chipset list to prioritize patch rollout.
Restrict installation of untrusted applications on managed mobile fleets until the patch is deployed.

Patch Information

Qualcomm addressed CVE-2025-21432 in the July 2025 Security Bulletin. Firmware fixes are distributed to OEMs, who integrate them into device-specific Android security patch level updates. Administrators should confirm that both the Android security patch level and the Qualcomm vendor patch level on each device meet or exceed the July 2025 baseline.

Workarounds

No official vendor workaround exists; patching is the required remediation path.
Enforce mobile application vetting and use MDM policies to block sideloading on affected devices until updates are applied.
Where possible, disable or restrict access to third-party applications that interact with Qualcomm TEE services on unpatched hardware.

bash

# Verify Android security patch level on a managed device via ADB
adb shell getprop ro.build.version.security_patch

# Verify Qualcomm vendor security patch level
adb shell getprop ro.vendor.build.security_patch

# Expected: values on or after 2025-07-01 for devices covered by the
# Qualcomm July 2025 Security Bulletin