CVE-2017-0441 Linux CVE debrief

Who should care

Android OEMs, device maintainers, kernel and firmware integrators, mobile security teams, and anyone supporting devices that include the affected Qualcomm Wi‑Fi driver or the listed Android/kernel versions should prioritize this issue.

Technical summary

NVD maps the vulnerability to CWE-120 and describes it as an elevation-of-privilege flaw in the Qualcomm Wi‑Fi driver. The impact is kernel-context arbitrary code execution from a local malicious app, with the caveat that the attack path first requires a privileged-process compromise. Official references point to the Android security bulletin and a CodeAurora advisory.

Defensive priority

High. The issue can lead to kernel-level compromise, but the attack path is local and requires additional privilege compromise, which narrows exposure compared with remotely reachable bugs.

Recommended defensive actions

• Verify whether your Android builds or downstream kernels include the affected Qualcomm Wi‑Fi driver code paths.
• Apply the Android security bulletin and any Qualcomm/CodeAurora fixes referenced for this CVE.
• Prioritize updates for devices aligned with Android versions up to 7.1.1 and kernel lines 3.10 and 3.18 identified by NVD.
• Review privileged-process exposure on affected devices, since the CVE description notes that compromising a privileged process is a prerequisite.
• Confirm patch status across OEM firmware, vendor kernels, and any device-specific backports rather than relying only on upstream kernel version labels.

Evidence notes

This debrief is based on the official NVD record for CVE-2017-0441, which lists the CVSS 3.0 vector, CWE-120 mapping, affected CPEs, and references to the Android security bulletin and CodeAurora advisory. The CVE description supplied in the source corpus states that the flaw is in the Qualcomm Wi‑Fi driver and may allow kernel-context arbitrary code execution after compromising a privileged process.

Official resources