NULL pointer dereference in Zephyr UpdateHub client on probe response
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- 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
Zephyr's UpdateHub client from 2.4.0 before 4.3.2 and from 4.4.0 before 4.5.0 dereferences a NULL pointer when a probe response omits the sha256sum field (CWE-476). An unauthenticated network attacker, on-path or via DNS spoofing, can send such a response over the default plain CoAP transport without user interaction. On targets where address zero is unmapped or protected, the fault halts the system, giving a remotely repeatable denial of service.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
Description from the CNA
The UpdateHub firmware-over-the-air client parses the CoAP probe response with Zephyr's JSON library in z_impl_updatehub_probe() (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c). The decoder treats every descriptor field as optional — json_obj_parse() returns a bitmask of the fields it actually decoded and never fails on a missing one — so a response that omits the "sha256sum" string leaves the corresponding const char * in the zero-initialised struct resp_probe_any_boards / struct resp_probe_some_boards at NULL. Both metadata branches then computed sha256size = strlen(...objects.sha256sum) + 1 before any validation, dereferencing that NULL pointer; the SHA256_HEX_DIGEST_SIZE test that follows operates on a value the bad read has already produced and cannot prevent it. The metadata is supplied entirely by the network peer: probe_cb() accepts the datagram, runs coap_packet_parse() and copies the payload with no token matching and no cryptographic check. With CONFIG_UPDATEHUB_DTLS unset — the default — start_coap_client() uses plain CoAP over UDP on port 5683 with no peer authentication and resolves the server via unauthenticated DNS, so an on-path attacker, a DNS spoofer, or an off-path attacker who wins the race with a forged source address can deliver the malformed metadata. A probe response as simple as "objects":[[{}],[{}]] suffices, and no user interaction is required because updatehub_autohandler() polls on CONFIG_UPDATEHUB_POLL_INTERVAL. When CONFIG_UPDATEHUB_DTLS=y the trigger narrows to a malicious or compromised update server. The primitive is a read at address zero, not a write, so the impact is availability only. On targets where the low address range is unmapped or protected — MMU-based architectures, builds with CONFIG_NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION_DETECTION_DWT/_MPU/_PMP, TrustZone non-secure images, and SoCs such as nRF54L whose 0x0–0x400 window is unmapped — the load faults and Zephyr's default fatal handler halts the system, giving a remotely re-triggerable denial of service on every poll. On classic Cortex-M targets where the vector table is readable at address zero the walk usually terminates immediately and the request is rejected by the length check, so the outcome is configuration- and SoC-dependent. There is no memory write, and the copied bytes are only compared against the locally computed image hash, so there is no information-disclosure channel. The fix adds an explicit sha256sum == NULL test that returns UPDATEHUB_METADATA_ERROR ahead of the strlen() in both metadata branches. Debug builds (CONFIG_UPDATEHUB_LOG_LEVEL=4) still format the same pointers with %s in a LOG_DBG() loop that runs before the new checks, so that variant remains in debug configurations only.
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 | 2.4.0 to before 4.3.2; 4.4.0 to before 4.5.0 | 4.3.2, 4.5.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- zephyr Vendorzephyrproject Affected 2.4.0 to before 4.3.2; 4.4.0 to before 4.5.0 Fixed in 4.3.2, 4.5.0 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
Update Zephyr to 4.3.2 or 4.5.0.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
- Fix · CNA zephyr (zephyrproject) Fixed in 4.3.2, 4.5.0
Fixed in the same release
Records fixed by the same vendor advisory or release, as the CNA lists them.
- Release ·
zephyrproject zephyr 4.3.2, 4.5.0
3 records Highest priority Priority MEDIUM 1 MEDIUM, 2 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-76546 Stack out-of-bounds write in the OSDP Control Panel reply parserPriority MEDIUM 40
- TI-2026-76636 Zephyr RTIO mempool syscall validates output pointers for read, not writePriority LOW 26
Timeline
- 2026-10-20 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-76787
- 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-20 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: [email protected] · CNA
References
Patch 1
Other 1
More zephyrproject vulnerabilities
- 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
Sources
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences