CVE-2025-27029: Qualcomm Fastconnect 7800 DOS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-27029 Overview

CVE-2025-27029 is a transient denial-of-service vulnerability affecting a broad range of Qualcomm wireless and platform firmware components. The flaw resides in the processing logic for the tone measurement response buffer, where an out-of-range response buffer is not adequately validated before access. The defect is categorized under CWE-126: Buffer Over-read.

Qualcomm disclosed the issue in the Qualcomm June 2025 Security Bulletin. The vulnerability is remotely reachable, requires no privileges, and no user interaction, but is limited in impact to availability.

Critical Impact

A remote attacker can trigger a transient denial-of-service condition on affected Qualcomm wireless firmware, disrupting Wi-Fi connectivity on mobile, networking, and IoT devices.

Affected Products

• Qualcomm FastConnect 7800 firmware
• Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Mobile Platform firmware
• Qualcomm IPQ, QCN, QCA, WCN, WSA, and WCD series firmware (full list in vendor advisory)

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-06-03 - CVE-2025-27029 published to NVD
• 2025-06-03 - Qualcomm publishes June 2025 Security Bulletin with patch information
• 2025-08-20 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27029

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability is a buffer over-read condition that occurs during the processing of a tone measurement response buffer in Qualcomm Wi-Fi firmware. Tone measurement is part of the IEEE 802.11 Fine Timing Measurement (FTM) protocol used for precise ranging between wireless stations. When the response buffer length is outside the expected bounds, the parsing routine continues to read memory past the valid buffer region.

The impact is constrained to availability. A successful trigger causes a transient denial of service, typically resulting in a firmware crash, Wi-Fi subsystem reset, or temporary loss of wireless connectivity until the affected component recovers. Confidentiality and integrity are not affected.

Root Cause

The defect stems from missing or insufficient length validation on the tone measurement response buffer prior to dereferencing it. The firmware trusts a length or offset field in the incoming response without confirming it falls within the allocated buffer. This matches the pattern described by CWE-126, where a sequential read operation crosses the intended buffer boundary.

Attack Vector

The attack is delivered over the network, specifically over the wireless interface. An attacker within radio range of the target sends a crafted FTM tone measurement response frame containing an out-of-range buffer length. No authentication or user interaction is required. Because the trigger is purely wireless protocol-level, any device with the affected Qualcomm chipset and an active Wi-Fi interface is exposed.

No public proof-of-concept code, exploit module, or in-the-wild exploitation has been reported. The vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27029

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected Wi-Fi subsystem crashes, firmware restarts, or WLAN driver resets logged on devices using affected Qualcomm chipsets
• Repeated short-duration loss of wireless connectivity on multiple devices in the same physical area
• Anomalous 802.11 FTM action frames originating from unknown or untrusted stations

Detection Strategies

• Monitor kernel and platform logs for repeated WLAN firmware crash signatures, watchdog timeouts, or Wi-Fi driver re-initialization events
• Use wireless intrusion detection (WIDS) sensors to flag malformed or anomalous FTM action frames and ranging measurement responses
• Correlate wireless connectivity drops across endpoints to identify localized radio-frequency abuse rather than configuration issues

Monitoring Recommendations

• Centralize endpoint, mobile, and access point telemetry in a SIEM or data lake to baseline Wi-Fi firmware crash rates
• Alert on spikes in Wi-Fi subsystem reset events tied to specific OUIs or chipset models matching the affected Qualcomm product list
• Review wireless captures in environments where ranging or location services are active and unauthenticated FTM traffic is observed

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27029

Immediate Actions Required

• Inventory all devices using affected Qualcomm chipsets, including smartphones, access points, IoT gateways, and networking equipment
• Apply firmware updates from device OEMs that incorporate the Qualcomm June 2025 security patches as soon as they are available
• Prioritize patching for high-density wireless environments where transient Wi-Fi outages would have operational impact

Patch Information

Qualcomm released fixes for CVE-2025-27029 in the Qualcomm June 2025 Security Bulletin. Patches are distributed to OEMs and integrators, who must publish device-specific firmware updates. Customers should track their vendor's security advisories for the corresponding OEM release that includes the June 2025 Qualcomm patch level.

Workarounds

• Disable Wi-Fi FTM or 802.11mc ranging features on devices and access points where the functionality is not required
• Restrict exposure of vulnerable devices to untrusted wireless environments until OEM firmware updates are deployed
• Segment guest and IoT wireless networks to limit the radio reach of unknown clients to sensitive devices

# Example: identify Qualcomm WLAN firmware version on Android via adb
adb shell getprop | grep -i wlan
adb shell cat /sys/module/wlan/parameters/fwpath 2>/dev/null