Zephyr PECI transfer lets user code reach kernel memory
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-822 and the CVSS impact.
Summary
Zephyr from 2.3.0 before 4.3.2 and from 4.4.0 before 4.5.0 does not validate the buffer pointers embedded in the PECI transfer system call, so the driver reads and writes memory at addresses chosen by the caller. A user-mode thread that holds the PECI device object can write to kernel memory or read kernel memory through the PECI bus, which allows escape from user mode to supervisor privileges. Exploitation requires CONFIG_USERSPACE, one of the PECI drivers enabled, and local code execution in a user-mode thread holding the PECI device. The weakness is classified as CWE-822.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04
Description from the CNA
The user-mode verifier for the peci_transfer() system call, z_vrfy_peci_transfer() in drivers/peci/peci_handlers.c, checked only the device object permission and copied the caller-supplied struct peci_msg with k_usermode_from_copy(). That copy validates the outer structure only; the buf pointers and len values inside the embedded struct peci_buf members tx_buffer and rx_buffer remained fully caller-controlled and were passed unchecked to the driver. Every in-tree PECI driver dereferences those pointers in supervisor mode: peci_npcx_transfer() in drivers/peci/peci_npcx.c and peci_it8xxx2_transfer() in drivers/peci/peci_ite_it8xxx2.c copy hardware bytes into rx_buffer.buf[i] and read command bytes out of tx_buffer.buf[i], and peci_xec_read()/peci_xec_write() in drivers/peci/peci_mchp_xec.c do the same with no bound on rx_buffer.len at all. A user-mode thread that has been granted the PECI device object — the normal way an application exposes a device under CONFIG_USERSPACE — could therefore point rx_buffer.buf at kernel data structures and have the driver write hardware-supplied bytes there, or point tx_buffer.buf at kernel memory and have its contents pushed onto the PECI/eSPI out-of-band bus. The impact is a full user-mode-to-kernel escape: an arbitrary kernel write primitive (integrity and, through it, code execution at supervisor privilege), an arbitrary kernel read disclosed to a PECI bus observer, and a trivially reachable supervisor-mode fault if an unmapped address is supplied. Exploitation requires CONFIG_USERSPACE=y, one of the PECI drivers enabled (CONFIG_PECI_NPCX, CONFIG_PECI_XEC or CONFIG_PECI_ITE_IT8XXX2), and local code execution in a user-mode thread holding the PECI device. The fix adds K_SYSCALL_MEMORY_READ() and K_SYSCALL_MEMORY_WRITE() checks over the two embedded buffers, with a size_add_overflow() guard on the frame-check-sequence byte accounted for in the RX length.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Total
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 | 2.3.0 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 2.3.0 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
Upgrade Zephyr to 4.3.2 or 4.5.0. The sources list no fix for other versions.
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
5 records Highest priority Priority LOW 5 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-78937 NULL pointer dereference in Zephyr MCTP I2C+GPIO target bindingPriority LOW 31
- TI-2026-78933 Double free in the Zephyr Broadcom AFBR-S50 sensor driverPriority LOW 23
- TI-2026-78934 Race condition in Zephyr PSOC 6 BLESS driver leaks adjacent memoryPriority LOW 19
Timeline
- 2026-10-21 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-19676
- 2026-10-23 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-23 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-11-04 Fix available: [email protected], [email protected] · CNA
References
Patch 1
Other 1
More zephyrproject vulnerabilities
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- 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