Preface: Android HLOS –
-Runs on the Application Processor (main CPU)
-Main Android OS (Linux kernel, system services, apps)
Background: The Snapdragon 8 application processor (including variants like Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Snapdragon 8 Elite) uses the Adreno GPU. The Adreno GPU is a core component of Qualcomm’s Snapdragon mobile platforms and is responsible for handling graphics processing and rendering.
HLOS stands for High-Level Operating System, and in Qualcomm’s terminology, it refers to the Android OS running on the Application Processor (AP) of Snapdragon SoCs. This includes:
- The Android framework
- System services
- Linux kernel
- HALs (Hardware Abstraction Layers)
- Drivers and other user-space components
In Snapdragon and ARM-based systems, a VM (Virtual Machine) typically refers to a virtualized environment managed by a hypervisor. Qualcomm platforms may use Type-1 hypervisors (like Qualcomm’s own hypervisor or ARM’s KVM/EL2) to isolate different OS environments.
Vulnerability details: Memory corruption may occur while attaching VM when the HLOS retains access to VM.
Official Announcement: Please see the link for details – https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-53010