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TI-2026-13316 Aliases CVE-2026-15891

NULL pointer dereference in Zephyr MQTT-SN client when removing a non-responsive gateway

Priority LOW 34CWE-476Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Network
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
Denial of service
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
None · None · High
Fix status
Fixed

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-476.

Summary

The MQTT-SN client keepalive handler process_ping() in subsys/net/lib/mqtt_sn/mqtt_sn.c removes the gateway record after PINGREQ retries are exhausted. It invoked SYS_SLIST_PEEK_HEAD_CONTAINER(&client->gateways, gw, next) but discarded the result. That macro is a pure expression that does not assign to gw, so gw retained its NULL initializer regardless of the list contents. The code then dereferences the NULL gw (gw->gw_id) and passes it to mqtt_sn_gw_destroy(), reaching k_mem_slab_free(&gateways, NULL). With CONFIG_MEM_SLAB_POINTER_VALIDATE enabled this triggers k_panic(); in the default configuration it performs a write through the NULL pointer ((char )mem = slab->free_list;) and corrupts the slab free list. The outcome is a crash/kernel panic or, on targets where address 0 is writable, silent memory-allocator corruption. The vulnerable branch runs whenever the connected MQTT-SN gateway fails to answer keepalive PINGREQs for the configured number of retries. This condition is controlled by the remote peer: a malicious or compromised gateway, or an on-path/adjacent attacker that advertises itself as a gateway and then stops responding (or blackholes the real gateway's PINGRESPs), forces the client into the defect. MQTT-SN runs over UDP and no authentication is required. The impact is a remotely triggerable denial of service (availability) of the affected MQTT-SN client; there is no attacker-controlled data written. The sibling remover process_advertise() uses SYS_SLIST_FOR_EACH_CONTAINER_SAFE and is not affected. The fix assigns the macro's return value to gw.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00575 47th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed zephyr (zephyrproject): 4.3.2, 4.4.2

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
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
zephyrprojectzephyr4.1.0 to before 4.3.2; 4.4.0 to before 4.4.24.3.2, 4.4.2Patch availableCNA
  • zephyr Vendorzephyrproject Affected 4.1.0 to before 4.3.2; 4.4.0 to before 4.4.2 Fixed in 4.3.2, 4.4.2 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:zephyrproject:zephyr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——zephyrproject
  • cpe:2.3:o:zephyrproject:zephyr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·zephyrproject

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA zephyr (zephyrproject) Fixed in 4.3.2, 4.4.2

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-15891
  2. 2026-11-04 Fix available: [email protected] · CNA

References

  • TI-2026-04422 Out-of-bounds read/write in HTTP WebSocket upgrade via non-null-terminated Sec-WebSocket-Key CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-01361 dns: memory‑safety issue in the DNS name parser CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2026-09174 Unterminated URI buffer causes out-of-bounds read in LwM2M firmware pull (Package URI) CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
  • TI-2026-09168 Stack buffer overflow in `net_ipaddr_parse()` IPv4 address-with-port parsing in `subsys/net/ip/utils.c` CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
  • TI-2024-09625 net: lib: http_server: Buffer Under-read CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
  • TI-2021-02863 Usb bluetooth device ACL read cb buffer overflow CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.6
See all 341 →

Sources

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