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TI-2026-84936 Aliases CVE-2026-87039

Unvalidated pointer in Zephyr I2S configure syscall reaches kernel slabs

Priority LOW 33CWE-787Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High
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-787 and the CVSS impact.

Summary

The Zephyr I2S configure syscall verifier passes an unvalidated, user-supplied kernel object pointer to drivers. When the frame clock frequency is 0 (the unconfigure request), the verifier skips the memory slab ownership and type check, so any thread running under CONFIG_USERSPACE that has access to an I2S device can reach driver code with a fake slab pointer. The i2s_litex driver stores the caller's configuration and later calls k_mem_slab_alloc() and k_mem_slab_free() on that pointer in supervisor context, giving an unprivileged thread an arbitrary-pointer read and write primitive in the kernel. Builds without CONFIG_USERSPACE are not affected.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04

Description from the CNA

The user-mode syscall verifier z_vrfy_i2s_configure() in drivers/i2s/i2s_handlers.c copies the caller's struct i2s_config in from user memory and then, when cfg->frame_clk_freq is 0 (the API's "unconfigure the stream" request), jumps straight to z_impl_i2s_configure() without performing the K_SYSCALL_OBJ(config.mem_slab, K_OBJ_MEM_SLAB) ownership/type check or the block_size sanity check. The mem_slab field is a struct k_mem_slab *, so on that path a completely unvalidated, user-chosen pointer reaches driver code that is entitled to trust it as a real kernel object. Any thread running under CONFIG_USERSPACE that has access to an I2S device object can trigger this with a single i2s_configure() call. Most in-tree drivers special-case frame_clk_freq == 0 and never store the caller's structure, but drivers/i2s/i2s_litex.c does not: i2s_litex_configure() only logs a warning for a mismatched frame clock, then memcpy()s the caller's config into stream->cfg and marks the stream I2S_STATE_READY. A subsequent i2s_trigger() with I2S_TRIGGER_START enables the FIFO interrupt, and the interrupt handlers i2s_litex_isr_rx() / i2s_litex_isr_tx() then call k_mem_slab_alloc() and k_mem_slab_free() on the attacker-supplied pointer in supervisor context. The result is an arbitrary-pointer read/write primitive executed by the kernel on behalf of an unprivileged thread — k_mem_slab_alloc() takes a spinlock at slab->lock and reads and writes slab->free_list and the link word inside the returned "block" — which defeats the CONFIG_USERSPACE isolation boundary entirely. The same missing validation is a hazard for out-of-tree I2S drivers that retain the configuration on the unconfigure path. Builds without CONFIG_USERSPACE are unaffected, since the verifier is not used. The fix zeroes config.mem_slab and config.block_size on the unconfigure path so the driver can never receive an unvalidated pointer, while still allowing a stream to be unconfigured by a caller that does not own a memory slab, as the API documents.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00101 0th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed zephyr (zephyrproject): 4.5.0

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
zephyrprojectzephyr4.4.0 to before 4.5.04.5.0Patch availableCNA
  • zephyr Vendorzephyrproject Affected 4.4.0 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.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:o:zephyrproject:zephyr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——zephyrproject
  • cpe:2.3:o:zephyrproject:zephyr:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·zephyrproject

Remediation

Update Zephyr from 4.4.0 before 4.5.0 to 4.5.0. CISA is not listed for this flaw in the sources.

Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-04

  • 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-2026-84940 Memory leak in Mbed TLS crypto shim lets remote attackers exhaust heapPriority LOW 28
    • TI-2026-84939 Zephyr sys_rand_get() returns stale data when entropy is not readyPriority LOW 21

Timeline

  1. 2026-11-04 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-87039
  2. 2026-11-05 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW

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