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CVE-2016-6679: Android Wi‑Fi driver may leak data to malicious app

CVE-2016-6679 · published 10 years ago

Summary

On certain Nexus 5X and Android One phones running Android versions before early October 2016, the Qualcomm Wi‑Fi driver could be tricked by a specially crafted app to reveal sensitive information. This occurs when the app uses a low‑level command to the Wi‑Fi system. Updating the device to the latest Android release or applying the vendor’s security patch resolves the issue.

What to do

The CVE record does not list a fixed version. Check the vendor's site or the advisory links below - a fix may already be released.

Affected software

Vendor	Product	Affected versions
google	android	<= 7.0 `cpe:2.3:o:google:android::::::::`

Original advisory text

CORE/HDD/src/wlan_hdd_hostapd.c in the Qualcomm Wi-Fi driver in Android before 2016-10-05 on Nexus 5X and Android One devices allows attackers to obtain sensitive information via a crafted application that makes a setwpaie ioctl call, aka Android internal bug 29915601 and Qualcomm internal bug CR 1000913.

References

http://source.android.com/security/bulletin/2016-10-01.html Vendor Advisory
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93309 Third Party Advisory VDB Entry
https://source.codeaurora.org/quic/la/platform/vendor/qcom-opensource/wlan/prima... Patch
https://source.codeaurora.org/quic/la/platform/vendor/qcom-opensource/wlan/qcacl... Patch

Fix within

Internet-facing 60 days

Internal At next upgrade

Not known to be exploited
Needs hands-on effort to exploit (estimated)
Gives an attacker partial control (estimated)

Severity

5.5 Medium

Exploitation

<1% chance of attack within 30 days

Type

CWE-200Information Exposure

Timeline

Published10 Oct 2016

Updated4 Nov 2026

First seen29 Sep 2026

Sources

CVE-2016-6679 · NVD

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