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TI-2026-76545 Aliases CVE-2026-76787

NULL pointer dereference in Zephyr UpdateHub client on probe response

Priority LOW 26CWE-476Published · Updated

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

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00362 30th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed zephyr (zephyrproject): 4.3.2, 4.5.0

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
zephyrprojectzephyr2.4.0 to before 4.3.2; 4.4.0 to before 4.5.04.3.2, 4.5.0Patch availableCNA
  • 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.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
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

  1. 2026-10-20 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-76787
  2. 2026-10-20 CISA SSVC decision points changed
  3. 2026-10-20 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
  4. 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