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TI-2024-36139 Aliases CVE-2024-53980

Spoofed length byte traps CC2538 in endless loop

Priority HIGH 70CWE-835Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
None
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · Low
Fix status
No fix listed

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-835.

Summary

RIOT is an open-source microcontroller operating system, designed to match the requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other embedded devices. A malicious actor can send a IEEE 802.15.4 packet with spoofed length byte and optionally spoofed FCS, which eventually results into an endless loop on a CC2538 as receiver. Before PR #20998, the receiver would check for the location of the CRC bit using the packet length byte by considering all 8 bits, instead of discarding bit 7, which is what the radio does. This then results into reading outside of the RX FIFO. Although it prints an error when attempting to read outside of the RX FIFO, it will continue doing this. This may lead to a discrepancy in the CRC check according to the firmware and the radio. If the CPU judges the CRC as correct and the radio is set to `AUTO_ACK`, when the packet requests and acknowledgment the CPU will go into the state `CC2538_STATE_TX_ACK`. However, if the radio judged the CRC as incorrect, it will not send an acknowledgment, and thus the `TXACKDONE` event will not fire. It will then never return to the state `CC2538_STATE_READY` since the baseband processing is still disabled. Then the CPU will be in an endless loop. Since setting to idle is not forced, it won't do it if the radio's state is not `CC2538_STATE_READY`. A fix has not yet been made.

Why it matters now

Exploitation Proof of concept CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00756 55th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Public exploit Yes 1 exploit referenceTagged by NVD
Fix No fix listed No fixed version in the sources yet

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
Poc
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

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
RIOT-OSRIOTup to 2024.07—No fix listedCNA
  • RIOT VendorRIOT-OS Affected up to 2024.07 Fixed in — No fix listed CNA

CPE configurations NVD · 1

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:riot-os:riot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*up to 2024.07VulnerableRIOT-OS
  • cpe:2.3:o:riot-os:riot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions up to 2024.07 Vulnerable ·RIOT-OS

Remediation

No fixed version listed by the sources yet.

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2024-53980

References

  • TI-2024-21112 Buffer overflows in RIOT CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2023-16843 RIOT-OS vulnerable to Out of Bounds Write in _rbuf_add CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2023-10319 RIOT-OS vulnerable to Buffer Overflow during IPHC receive CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-22079 RIOT has an Out-of-Bounds Write in nanoCoAP Handler CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2023-16842 RIOT-OS vulnerable to Race Condition in SFR Timeout CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2023-16841 RIOT-OS vulnerable to NULL pointer dereference during NHC encoding CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
See all 39 →

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences