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TI-2026-84938 Aliases CVE-2026-87041

Inverted buffer checks in Zephyr RTIO expose kernel memory

Priority LOW 33CWE-125Published · Updated

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-787 and the CVSS impact.

Summary

Zephyr from 3.3.0 before 4.3.2 and from 4.4.0 before 4.5.0 has an inverted permission check in the RTIO submission-queue verifier. Buffers the calling thread cannot access are accepted, while accessible buffers crash the thread with a kernel oops, which is an untrusted pointer dereference (CWE-822). A user thread granted an RTIO context can submit a crafted request that makes bus drivers read or write arbitrary kernel memory, escaping user-mode isolation.

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

Description from the CNA

The RTIO submission-queue verifier rtio_vrfy_sqe() in subsys/rtio/rtio_syscalls.c (subsys/rtio/rtio_handlers.c before v4.3.0) accumulated the results of K_SYSCALL_MEMORY() into its valid_sqe flag with &=. That macro returns nonzero on failure (it is built on K_SYSCALL_VERIFY_MSG(), which yields !(expr)), so every buffer permission check contributed the opposite of its result. A submission whose tx.buf, rx.buf or txrx.tx_buf/txrx.rx_buf pointer was not accessible to the calling thread was accepted, while a legitimate, thread-owned buffer caused the calling thread to be killed with a kernel oops. The verifier runs on behalf of the rtio_sqe_copy_in_get_handles() system call (also reached through the inline rtio_sqe_copy_in() wrapper), so it is driven directly by untrusted user-mode input on any image built with CONFIG_USERSPACE. A user thread that has been granted an RTIO context and an rtio_iodev object — the intended usage of RTIO userspace support, established via rtio_access_grant() — can submit an SQE whose buffer pointer and length name arbitrary kernel memory; the object check on sqe->iodev is unaffected and still passes, and the crafted SQE is forwarded to the bus driver unchanged. Downstream consumers dereference the pointer with supervisor privilege. The generic I2C and I3C RTIO fallback handlers (drivers/i2c/i2c_rtio_default.c, drivers/i3c/i3c_rtio_default.c) copy sqe.rx.buf/sqe.tx.buf into struct i2c_msg and call i2c_transfer(), and the vendor SPI/I2C RTIO drivers behave equivalently. An RTIO_OP_RX submission therefore has peripheral data written into kernel memory of the attacker's choosing (arbitrary kernel write), an RTIO_OP_TX submission clocks kernel memory out over the bus (kernel memory disclosure), and a pointer to unmapped memory faults the kernel. This is a full escape from the user-mode isolation boundary that CONFIG_USERSPACE exists to enforce. The defect was masked for years because the in-tree user-mode RTIO tests only exercise RTIO_OP_NOP and mempool-backed reads, neither of which reaches the affected checks. The fix negates each K_SYSCALL_MEMORY() result and additionally validates the TXRX transmit buffer read-only, matching the SPI, I2C and I3C handlers.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.00114 1st percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Fixed zephyr (zephyrproject): 4.3.2, 4.5.0

SSVC decision points

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

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
zephyrprojectzephyr3.3.0 to before 4.3.2; 4.4.0 to before 4.5.04.3.2, 4.5.0Patch availableCNA
  • zephyr Vendorzephyrproject Affected 3.3.0 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.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
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 fixed 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-2026-84933 Zephyr RTIO syscalls let user threads write kernel memoryPriority LOW 37
    • TI-2026-84937 Out-of-bounds read and write in Zephyr Bluetooth LE ControllerPriority LOW 36
    • TI-2026-84935 TOCTOU race in Zephyr i3c_transfer() lets user code run in kernelPriority LOW 29

Timeline

  1. 2026-11-04 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-87041
  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