Contiki-NG missing NULL pointer check in IPv6 neighbor discovery
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Denial of service
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · NVD. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-476.
Summary
The Contiki-NG operating system versions 4.8 and prior can be triggered to dereference a NULL pointer in the message handling code for IPv6 router solicitiations. Contiki-NG contains an implementation of IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND) in the module `os/net/ipv6/uip-nd6.c`. The ND protocol includes a message type called Router Solicitation (RS), which is used to locate routers and update their address information via the SLLAO (Source Link-Layer Address Option). If the indicated source address changes, a given neighbor entry is set to the STALE state. The message handler does not check for RS messages with an SLLAO that indicates a link-layer address change that a neighbor entry can actually be created for the indicated address. The resulting pointer is used without a check, leading to the dereference of a NULL pointer of type `uip_ds6_nbr_t`. The problem has been patched in the `develop` branch of Contiki-NG, and will be included in the upcoming 4.9 release. As a workaround, users can apply Contiki-NG pull request #2271 to patch the problem directly.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| contiki-ng | contiki-ng | up to 4.8 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- contiki-ng Vendorcontiki-ng Affected up to 4.8 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:contiki-ng:contiki-ng:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | up to 4.8 | Vulnerable | contiki-ng |
- cpe:2.3:o:contiki-ng:contiki-ng:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 4.8 Vulnerable ·contiki-ng
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-31129
- 2026-10-21 EPSS moved to the 50th–90th percentile
References
More Contiki-ng vulnerabilities
- TI-2020-14885 An issue was discovered in Contiki through 3.0 and Contiki-NG through 4.5. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2020-16751 In Contiki 4.5, TCP ISNs are improperly random. CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2018-16029 contiki-ng version 4 contains a Buffer Overflow vulnerability in AQL (Antelope Query… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2018-13749 An issue was discovered in the MQTT server in Contiki-NG before 4.2. CVSS 3.0CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2023-14381 Contiki-NG has off-by-one error in Antelope DBMS CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2022-16354 Unverified DIO prefix info lengths in RPL-Classic in Contiki-NG CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences