CVE-2025-27032: Qualcomm Aqt1000 Use-After-Free Flaw

CVE-2025-27032 Overview

CVE-2025-27032 is a memory corruption vulnerability affecting a wide range of Qualcomm chipsets and firmware. The flaw occurs during the loading of a Peripheral Image Loader (PIL) authenticated virtual machine (VM) image when cache coherency is not maintained. An authenticated VM image loaded without proper cache synchronization can introduce inconsistent memory state between the CPU and secondary processors. A local attacker with low privileges can leverage this condition to corrupt memory in a privileged execution context. Qualcomm published the fix in its September 2025 security bulletin, and the issue is tracked under CWE-1257 (Improper Access Control Applied to Mirrored or Aliased Memory Regions).

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation results in memory corruption within a privileged firmware boundary, potentially compromising confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected Qualcomm platform.

Affected Products

Qualcomm Snapdragon mobile platforms (Snapdragon 8 Gen 1/2/3, 8+ Gen 2, 845, 855, 865, 870, 888, and related SKUs)
Qualcomm Snapdragon compute, auto, and XR platforms (Snapdragon 8cx Gen 2/3, SA8155P, SA8295P, SA8775P, Snapdragon XR2, AR1/AR2)
Qualcomm FastConnect, QCA, WCN, WCD, WSA, and Snapdragon X-series modem firmware families

Discovery Timeline

2025-09-24 - CVE-2025-27032 published to NVD following disclosure in the Qualcomm Security Bulletin September 2025
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-27032

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in the Peripheral Image Loader (PIL) subsystem, which is responsible for authenticating and loading firmware images into secondary processors such as modems, DSPs, and other subsystems on Qualcomm SoCs. When PIL loads an authenticated VM image, the code path does not enforce cache coherency between the loader's view of memory and the target processor's view. This allows a divergence between what the authentication routine validates and what the target executes.

An attacker running unprivileged local code can influence the memory region between the point of authentication and the point of execution. The result is memory corruption inside a trusted boundary, which undermines the integrity guarantees the PIL flow is supposed to provide.

Root Cause

The root cause is a design flaw classified as CWE-1257: improper handling of mirrored or aliased memory. Different processors in the SoC observe the same physical memory through separate cache hierarchies. Because the PIL flow does not flush or invalidate the relevant cache lines before handing the image to the target, the authenticated bytes and the executed bytes are not guaranteed to match.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires local access and low privileges. No user interaction is required. An attacker running code on the application processor can time memory modifications during the PIL authentication window to trigger the coherency gap and corrupt firmware memory on the target processor.

No public proof-of-concept code, exploit module, or in-the-wild activity has been reported for CVE-2025-27032 at the time of publication.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-27032

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected crashes, resets, or kernel panics involving PIL, subsystem restart (SSR), or remoteproc components on Qualcomm-based devices
Firmware authentication log entries indicating repeated PIL load failures or verification anomalies
Loaded subsystem images whose runtime hash does not match the signed image on disk

Detection Strategies

Monitor kernel and boot logs (dmesg, Android logcat, or vendor equivalents) for PIL, pil-*, remoteproc, and subsys error events
Compare deployed firmware build numbers against the fixed builds listed in the Qualcomm Security Bulletin September 2025
Track local processes attempting to interact with PIL-related sysfs or debugfs entries from unprivileged contexts

Monitoring Recommendations

Centralize device firmware inventory to identify chipsets and firmware versions matching the vulnerable CPE list
Alert on repeated subsystem restart events on the same device, which can indicate exploitation attempts or instability
Correlate mobile device management (MDM) patch-level telemetry with the September 2025 Qualcomm bulletin baseline

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-27032

Immediate Actions Required

Apply the OEM firmware update that incorporates the September 2025 Qualcomm patch as soon as it is available for the affected device model
Inventory all endpoints, IoT devices, automotive units, and mobile devices that use the listed Snapdragon, QCA, WCN, WCD, WSA, and FastConnect components
Restrict local, low-privilege code execution on affected devices, including limiting sideloaded applications and untrusted debug tooling

Patch Information

Qualcomm addressed CVE-2025-27032 in its September 2025 Security Bulletin. Patched firmware is delivered downstream through OEMs (device manufacturers) and carriers. Administrators must confirm that the vendor-supplied build includes the September 2025 Qualcomm patch level, not only a recent Android or Windows security patch level.

Workarounds

No official workaround has been published by Qualcomm; apply the vendor firmware update when released
Reduce exposure by disallowing untrusted local applications on affected devices until patched firmware is deployed
For managed fleets, enforce MDM policies that block installation of unsigned applications and require the latest OEM security patch level

bash

# Example: identify Qualcomm patch level and firmware build on an Android device
adb shell getprop ro.vendor.build.security_patch
adb shell getprop ro.boot.hardware.platform
adb shell getprop ro.vendor.qti.soc_name

# Example: enumerate PIL / remoteproc subsystems for baseline comparison
adb shell ls /sys/class/remoteproc/
adb shell dmesg | grep -Ei "pil|remoteproc|subsys"