Out-of-bounds read in Zephyr zbus proxy agent IPC logging
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · None · Low
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
The Zephyr zbus proxy agent IPC backend, from 4.4.0 before 4.4.2, logs the channel name of a rejected inter-domain frame with a %s conversion, but the name is not guaranteed to be NUL-terminated (CWE-125). A peer domain that can send a frame with an out-of-range message_size or a channel name without a NUL byte makes the log read past the frame, disclosing adjacent memory into the receiving domain's log and possibly causing a fault. Exploiting it requires control of the peer domain's firmware, typically a second core on the same SoC, and logging at warning level or above, which is the default.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
Description from the CNA
The zbus proxy agent IPC backend in subsys/zbus/proxy_agent/zbus_proxy_agent_ipc.c logged the channel name of a rejected inter-domain frame with a plain %s conversion. The frame type struct zbus_proxy_msg carries a fixed-size channel_name[] array as its last member, and nothing in the transport guarantees the array is NUL-terminated. The only code that verifies termination is zbus_proxy_agent_receive_cb() in subsys/zbus/proxy_agent/zbus_proxy_agent.c, which rejects the frame in precisely those cases — so the warning printed a non-terminated buffer exactly on the error paths where the name had been found invalid (or, for an invalid message_size, had not been inspected at all). Any peer domain able to place a frame of sizeof(struct zbus_proxy_msg) bytes on the bound ipc_service endpoint can trigger it, by sending a frame with an out-of-range message_size or with channel_name[] containing no NUL byte. Reaching the code requires CONFIG_ZBUS_PROXY_AGENT_IPC and logging built at warning level or above (the default), and requires control over the firmware of the peer domain — typically a second core on the same SoC. The resulting strlen() inside the log packager walks past the end of the frame object until it finds a zero byte. With the icmsg backend the frame lives in a stack buffer of the IPC work-queue thread, so bytes of that thread's stack are rendered into the log message; with the rpmsg backends the scan continues through the shared vring memory. Impact is bounded to disclosure of a small amount of adjacent memory into the receiving domain's log sink, plus a possible fatal fault if the scan leaves a mapped region; the log packager's own -ENOSPC bound prevents the overrun from becoming a write. The fix bounds the conversion with %.*s and MIN(msg->channel_name_len, sizeof(msg->channel_name)).
Why it matters now
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
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| zephyrproject | zephyr | 4.4.0 to before 4.4.2 | 4.4.2 | Patch available | CNA |
- zephyr Vendorzephyrproject Affected 4.4.0 to before 4.4.2 Fixed in 4.4.2 Patch available CNA
CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1
Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.
| CPE | Versions | Role | Vendor |
|---|---|---|---|
| cpe:2.3:o:zephyrproject:zephyr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* | — | — | zephyrproject |
- cpe:2.3:o:zephyrproject:zephyr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·zephyrproject
Remediation
Zephyr 4.4.2 fixes this flaw, so upgrade affected Zephyr releases from 4.4.0 before 4.4.2 to 4.4.2 or later.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-29
- Fix · CNA zephyr (zephyrproject) Fixed in 4.4.2
Timeline
- 2026-10-11 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-18418
- 2026-10-16 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Patch 1
Other 1
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Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences