Out-of-bounds read when processing a received IPv6 packet
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Information disclosure
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · None · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-125 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Contiki-NG is an operating system for internet-of-things devices. In versions 4.9 and prior, when a packet is received, the Contiki-NG network stack attempts to start the periodic TCP timer if it is a TCP packet with the SYN flag set. But the implementation does not first verify that a full TCP header has been received. Specifically, the implementation attempts to access the flags field from the TCP buffer in the following conditional expression in the `check_for_tcp_syn` function. For this reason, an attacker can inject a truncated TCP packet, which will lead to an out-of-bound read from the packet buffer. As of time of publication, a patched version is not available. As a workaround, one can apply the changes in Contiki-NG pull request #2510 to patch the system.
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 4.9 | — | No fix listed | CNA |
- contiki-ng Vendorcontiki-ng Affected up to 4.9 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
CPE configurations NVD · 1
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:contiki-ng:contiki-ng:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | up to 4.9 | Vulnerable | contiki-ng |
- cpe:2.3:o:contiki-ng:contiki-ng:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 4.9 Vulnerable ·contiki-ng
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2023-37459
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-2023-14839 Contiki-NG missing NULL pointer check in IPv6 neighbor discovery CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences