Vulnerability-Lookup

CVE-2026-76787 (GCVE-0-2026-76787)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-19 20:39 – Updated: 2026-10-19 20:39

Title

NULL pointer dereference in the UpdateHub FOTA client when probe metadata omits sha256sum

Summary

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.

Severity

5.9 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CWE

CWE-476 - memory-safety

Assigner

zephyr CNA under the mitre root

CNA scorecard B 77/100 over 179 records in the last 180 days details

References

2 references

URL	Tags
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/comm…	patch
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/secu…

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version	CPE status
zephyrproject	zephyr	Affected: 2.4.0 , < 4.5.0 (semver)	guessed

Show details on NVD website

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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageName": "zephyr",
          "product": "zephyr",
          "programFiles": [
            "subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c"
          ],
          "programRoutines": [
            {
              "name": "z_impl_updatehub_probe"
            }
          ],
          "vendor": "zephyrproject",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4.5.0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "2.4.0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "The UpdateHub firmware-over-the-air client parses the CoAP probe response with Zephyr\u0027s JSON library in z_impl_updatehub_probe() (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c). The decoder treats every descriptor field as optional \u2014 json_obj_parse() returns a bitmask of the fields it actually decoded and never fails on a missing one \u2014 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.\n\nThe 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 \u2014 the default \u2014 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.\n\nThe 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 \u2014 MMU-based architectures, builds with CONFIG_NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION_DETECTION_DWT/_MPU/_PMP, TrustZone non-secure images, and SoCs such as nRF54L whose 0x0\u20130x400 window is unmapped \u2014 the load faults and Zephyr\u0027s 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.\n\nThe 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."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 5.9,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "format": "CVSS"
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-476",
              "description": "memory-safety",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T20:39:20.425Z",
        "orgId": "e2e69745-5e70-4e92-8431-deb5529a81ad",
        "shortName": "zephyr"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "name": "Fix commit",
          "tags": [
            "patch"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/6fc4f27a74021b52c509e4f7912d68145dfa7728"
        },
        {
          "name": "GHSA-82gq-cmqw-xgx2",
          "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-82gq-cmqw-xgx2"
        }
      ],
      "title": "NULL pointer dereference in the UpdateHub FOTA client when probe metadata omits sha256sum",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "cvelib 1.8.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "e2e69745-5e70-4e92-8431-deb5529a81ad",
    "assignerShortName": "zephyr",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-76787",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-19T20:39:20.425Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-19T17:53:24.899Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-19T20:39:20.425Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
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        "affected": [
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            "affectedData": [
              {
                "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
                "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
                "packageName": "zephyr",
                "product": "zephyr",
                "programFiles": [
                  "subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c"
                ],
                "programRoutines": [
                  {
                    "name": "z_impl_updatehub_probe"
                  }
                ],
                "vendor": "zephyrproject",
                "versions": [
                  {
                    "lessThan": "4.5.0",
                    "status": "affected",
                    "version": "2.4.0",
                    "versionType": "semver"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org"
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "The UpdateHub firmware-over-the-air client parses the CoAP probe response with Zephyr\u0027s JSON library in z_impl_updatehub_probe() (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c). The decoder treats every descriptor field as optional \u2014 json_obj_parse() returns a bitmask of the fields it actually decoded and never fails on a missing one \u2014 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.\n\nThe 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 \u2014 the default \u2014 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.\n\nThe 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 \u2014 MMU-based architectures, builds with CONFIG_NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION_DETECTION_DWT/_MPU/_PMP, TrustZone non-secure images, and SoCs such as nRF54L whose 0x0\u20130x400 window is unmapped \u2014 the load faults and Zephyr\u0027s 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.\n\nThe 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."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-76787",
        "lastModified": "2026-10-19T21:18:01.230",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
                "attackVector": "NETWORK",
                "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "baseScore": 5.9,
                "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
                "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "integrityImpact": "NONE",
                "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
              },
              "exploitabilityScore": 2.2,
              "impactScore": 3.6,
              "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
              "type": "Secondary"
            }
          ]
        },
        "published": "2026-10-19T21:18:01.230",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
            "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/6fc4f27a74021b52c509e4f7912d68145dfa7728"
          },
          {
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
            "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-82gq-cmqw-xgx2"
          }
        ],
        "sourceIdentifier": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
        "vulnStatus": "Received",
        "weaknesses": [
          {
            "description": [
              {
                "lang": "en",
                "value": "CWE-476"
              }
            ],
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
            "type": "Secondary"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}

FKIE_CVE-2026-76787

Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2026-10-19 21:18 - Updated: 2026-10-19 21:18

Severity

5.9 (Medium) - CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Summary

References

	URL	Tags
	vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org	https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/6fc4f27a74021b52c509e4f7912d68145dfa7728
	vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org	https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-82gq-cmqw-xgx2

Impacted products

	Vendor	Product	Version

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageName": "zephyr",
          "product": "zephyr",
          "programFiles": [
            "subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c"
          ],
          "programRoutines": [
            {
              "name": "z_impl_updatehub_probe"
            }
          ],
          "vendor": "zephyrproject",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4.5.0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "2.4.0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org"
    }
  ],
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "The UpdateHub firmware-over-the-air client parses the CoAP probe response with Zephyr\u0027s JSON library in z_impl_updatehub_probe() (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c). The decoder treats every descriptor field as optional \u2014 json_obj_parse() returns a bitmask of the fields it actually decoded and never fails on a missing one \u2014 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.\n\nThe 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 \u2014 the default \u2014 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.\n\nThe 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 \u2014 MMU-based architectures, builds with CONFIG_NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION_DETECTION_DWT/_MPU/_PMP, TrustZone non-secure images, and SoCs such as nRF54L whose 0x0\u20130x400 window is unmapped \u2014 the load faults and Zephyr\u0027s 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.\n\nThe 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."
    }
  ],
  "id": "CVE-2026-76787",
  "lastModified": "2026-10-19T21:18:01.230",
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "cvssData": {
          "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
          "baseScore": 5.9,
          "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
          "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
          "integrityImpact": "NONE",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
          "version": "3.1"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 2.2,
        "impactScore": 3.6,
        "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
        "type": "Secondary"
      }
    ]
  },
  "published": "2026-10-19T21:18:01.230",
  "references": [
    {
      "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
      "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/6fc4f27a74021b52c509e4f7912d68145dfa7728"
    },
    {
      "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
      "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-82gq-cmqw-xgx2"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIdentifier": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
  "vulnStatus": "Received",
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-476"
        }
      ],
      "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
      "type": "Secondary"
    }
  ]
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

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The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
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