Out-of-bounds write in Zephyr NPCX eSPI TAF receive path
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · High · High
- Fix status
- Fixed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA.
Summary
Zephyr from 3.6.0 before 4.5.0 is affected in the Nuvoton NPCX eSPI Target-Attached-Flash receive path. The driver copies a host-supplied packet length into a fixed 64-byte buffer without checking it, which causes an out-of-bounds write (CWE-787). An attacker who controls the eSPI host side and sends a flash request with an oversized payload length can corrupt controller memory, leading to a crash or hang. Only builds with CONFIG_ESPI_TAF enabled on NPCX or NPCK targets are affected.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
Description from the CNA
The Nuvoton NPCX eSPI driver parses Target-Attached-Flash (TAF) requests in espi_taf_parse() (drivers/espi/espi_npcx.c), taking the 12-bit length field directly out of the request header in the FLASHRXBUF FIFO. For write and RPMC OP1 requests it copied DIV_ROUND_UP(len, 4) words into struct espi_taf_pckt.src, a fixed 16-word (64-byte) member of a static structure, without ever comparing the length against that buffer or against the negotiated eSPI receive payload size (rx-plsize, 64 bytes on all in-tree NPCX/NPCK SoCs). Both the loop counter and the word count were uint8_t, so the copy ran up to 255 iterations. An eSPI controller that emits a flash request whose header claims a payload larger than the negotiated maximum therefore drives up to 239 32-bit stores past the end of the structure — roughly 956 bytes of out-of-bounds write into .bss — from the eSPI flash receive interrupt handler, while the source reads walk past the end of the 18-word FLASHRXBUF register array into neighbouring eSPI registers. The same unvalidated length was then passed on to flash_write() in espi_taf_npcx_flash_write() with the 64-byte src buffer as source, reading up to 4 KB of adjacent controller SRAM into SPI flash at a host-chosen address, where the host can read it back. A related fixed-size stack buffer in taf_npcx_completion_handler() was overflowed by four bytes on the maximum-size completion path on SoCs whose tx-plsize is 64. The defect is reachable only from the eSPI host side, and only by a request that violates the negotiated payload size, so it requires host firmware or bus-level control rather than ordinary host software; a compliant maximum-length write fits the buffer exactly and is handled correctly. Because TAF exists specifically so that the embedded controller arbitrates host access to shared flash (espi_taf_check_read_protect() / espi_taf_check_write_protect()), corrupting controller memory from a host-supplied field crosses the trust boundary the feature asserts; consequences range from controller crash or hang to corruption of driver state that gates the flash protection regions. The fix widens the counters, rejects any request whose word count exceeds both ARRAY_SIZE(FLASHRXBUF) - NPCX_ESPI_FLASH_HEADER_ADDRESS_LEN and NPCX_TAF_RX_PAYLOAD_WORDS (derived from the devicetree rx-plsize), marks such packets with a new invalid_flag so espi_taf_work() answers them with an unsuccessful completion instead of processing them, bounds the transmit payload against FLASHTXBUF, and adds a default case for unsupported cycle types. Only configurations with CONFIG_ESPI_TAF enabled on an NPCX/NPCK target are affected; no in-tree board enables it by default.
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 | 3.6.0 to before 4.5.0 | 4.5.0 | Patch available | CNA |
- zephyr Vendorzephyrproject Affected 3.6.0 to before 4.5.0 Fixed in 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 version 4.5.0, which fixes the flaw. Affected versions are from 3.6.0 before 4.5.0.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
- Fix · CNA zephyr (zephyrproject) Fixed in 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 4.5.0
3 records Highest priority Priority LOW 3 LOW
Other records, highest priority first
- TI-2026-78935 Race condition in Zephyr timer wait queue handling on SMPPriority LOW 32
- TI-2026-78932 Missing permission check in Zephyr devmux lets user threads retarget outputPriority LOW 23
Timeline
- 2026-10-21 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-78119
- 2026-10-23 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-10-23 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