CVE-2026-14697
MediumCVSS 6.5Exploitation Probability (EPSS)
Low risk7th percentile - higher than 7% of all known CVEs
Summary
In the IPv6 subsystem of the Zephyr stack (subsys/net/ip/ipv6_nbr.c), the net_ipv6_send_ns() function allocates a transmit net_pkt for a Neighbor Solicitation. When called with a data packet pending on an unresolved neighbor and the neighbor's pending_queue is already non-empty, the function appends the data packet and returns early without sending the NS via net_send_data() or releasing it with net_pkt_unref(). The freshly allocated NS net_pkt and its attached TX buffers are held only by a local variable and are leaked permanently, never returning to CONFIG_NET_PKT_TX_COUNT / CONFIG_NET_BUF_TX_COUNT.
Risk Assessment
An on-link attacker can deterministically trigger the TX packet leak, exhausting the transmit packet pool (default only 4, 14 for Ethernet). Once exhausted, the node cannot send any packets (TCP/UDP, ARP/ND, or any reply), resulting in a complete and persistent denial of service that does not self-heal until reboot.
Recommendation
Apply the fix that releases the unsent NS packet with net_pkt_unref(pkt) before the early return. If the fix is unavailable, restrict trust in the local network and monitor TX packet pool usage.
Other vulnerabilities in Zephyr
See all- CVE-2026-10772Unknown
This CVE has been rejected as a duplicate. The described vulnerability involved incorrect permission checking in the Bluetooth GATT notify/indicate paths in the Zephyr stack, but was already reported as CVE-2026-2411.
- CVE-2026-10676Unknown
CVE-2026-10676 has been withdrawn as analysis determined that the reported defect is not reachable in any released version of Zephyr. In every supported release, the affected value is corrected before use.
- CVE-2026-5067Critical
Zephyr OS has a memory corruption vulnerability in the HTTP server WebSocket upgrade path. An unauthenticated remote attacker can trigger it by sending a crafted Sec-WebSocket-Key header. The bounded copy does not guarantee NUL termination, leading to out-of-bounds read/write on stack.
- CVE-2026-19673High
A vulnerability in ethernet_recv() in subsys/net/l2/ethernet/ethernet.c in the Zephyr network stack. When the ethertype is 0x8100 and VLAN is enabled on the interface, the received frame buffer is reinterpreted as an 18-byte net_eth_vlan_hdr without re-checking the length, causing an out-of-bounds read and raising hdr_len to 18. A single unauthenticated frame of 14 to 17 bytes carrying the VLAN ethertype triggers the issue.
- CVE-2026-19935High
A vulnerability in the Zephyr Bluetooth LE stack allows a remote, unauthenticated attacker to trigger a use-after-free in L2CAP CoC channel handling with dynamic PSMs. By sending a data frame followed by a disconnect request, the attacker can cause the system workqueue to process work referencing a freed channel, leading to memory corruption or workqueue corruption.
- CVE-2026-19740Medium
The LLCP implementation in Zephyr's Bluetooth LE Controller retains a receive node after accepting LL_PHY_UPDATE_IND, but invalid-PDU paths fail to release it before completing the procedure. An attacker can send a PDU sequence causing an assertion failure (device crash) or leaking nodes from the receive pool, leading to Bluetooth unavailability until reboot.
- CVE-2026-19669High
A vulnerability in Zephyr's syscall verifiers z_vrfy_fuel_gauge_get_props() and z_vrfy_fuel_gauge_set_props() allocates variable-length arrays on the kernel stack sized directly by an unvalidated caller-supplied len argument. Because no bounds check occurs before allocation and copying, a user-mode thread (with CONFIG_USERSPACE) can trigger an out-of-bounds write in supervisor mode with attacker-controlled length and, on the permitted path, attacker-controlled content.
- CVE-2026-19577High
An out-of-bounds read vulnerability was found in the IPv6 subsystem of the Zephyr stack in net_route_ipv6_packet(). The issue stems from missing validation of whether a neighbor cache entry has a link-layer address before using it. An attacker on the same link can force an unresolved neighbor state and trigger an out-of-bounds read past the address array, potentially causing a system panic or data leak.
- CVE-2026-19186High
In the IEEE 802.15.4 stack in Zephyr, the function ieee802154_decipher_data_frame() does not check if the frame is long enough before computing the payload length. Subtracting the header and authentication tag length from the frame length can underflow, leading to an out-of-bounds read and write. An attacker within radio range can send a short frame, causing memory corruption and system crash.
- CVE-2026-18415Medium
The ieee802154_send() function in Zephyr's network stack copies an outgoing packet into a fixed 125-byte transmit buffer without validating its length. When 6LoWPAN fragmentation is enabled but not required, the missing size check allows an out-of-bounds write past the buffer. The flaw is reachable through NET_AF_PACKET sockets bound to an 802.15.4 interface, including from an unprivileged application thread in CONFIG_USERSPACE builds.
Original NVD description (English source)
net_ipv6_send_ns() in subsys/net/ip/ipv6_nbr.c allocates a transmit net_pkt for a Neighbor Solicitation. When it is called with a data packet pending on an unresolved neighbor and that neighbor's pending_queue is already non-empty (an NS is already outstanding), the function appends the data packet and returns early without ever sending the NS via net_send_data() or releasing it with net_pkt_unref(). The freshly allocated NS net_pkt and its attached TX buffers are held only by a local variable and are leaked permanently, never returning to CONFIG_NET_PKT_TX_COUNT / CONFIG_NET_BUF_TX_COUNT. The leaking branch sits on the normal IPv6 transmit path: net_ipv6_prepare_for_send() (called from net_if.c) invokes net_ipv6_send_ns() for any outbound or forwarded IPv6 packet whose next hop is not yet in the neighbor cache. An on-link (adjacent) attacker can drive it deterministically by sending a burst of request packets (for example ICMPv6 echo requests or UDP datagrams) that all spoof a single non-existent on-link source address: the node generates a reply to each, the first reply queues an NS, and every subsequent reply during the roughly three-second INCOMPLETE resolution window takes the leaking branch and loses one TX packet. Router-configured nodes forwarding attacker traffic toward a non-existent on-link host leak identically. Because the leaked packets are never reclaimed and CONFIG_NET_PKT_TX_COUNT defaults to only 4 (14 for Ethernet), a brief low-rate burst exhausts the TX pool. Once exhausted the node can no longer allocate any transmit packet and cannot send TCP/UDP, ARP/ND, or any reply at all, producing a complete and persistent network denial of service that does not self-heal until reboot. The fix releases the unsent NS packet with net_pkt_unref(pkt) before the early return.
Vulnerability data from NVD (NIST) · CISA KEV · EPSS

