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CVE-2026-87044

Memory leak in the Mbed TLS crypto shim on failed cipher/AEAD operations leads to remotely triggered crypto denial of service

CVSS score

6.5

EPSS probability

—

Risk score

0.7

Published

2 h ago

Official patch verified

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Vulnerability description

DayBreach AI Explanation

Verified against sources

Memory Leak in Mbed TLS Crypto Shim Leads to Remotely Triggered Denial of Service

Sources read

1

Source agreement

Tam uyum

Evidence confidence

%55

Short explanation

A memory leak vulnerability exists in the Zephyr Mbed TLS crypto shim driver during failed cipher and AEAD operations. An unauthenticated attacker within radio range can transmit crafted frames to exhaust the heap and cause a permanent cryptographic denial of service.

Why does it matter?

This vulnerability allows attackers to permanently break all cryptographic operations until the device is rebooted. The heap can be exhausted within a fraction of a second using crafted frames, severely impacting system availability.

What should be done?

  • Follow the vendor advisory to apply the necessary fixes
  • Integrate the patch that routes post-setup failures through matching PSA abort calls
  • Upgrade the device firmware to a secure version
Chain of evidence and sources3 verified claims

Başarısız şifreleme ve AEAD işlemleri, Mbed TLS yığınından kalıcı bellek sızıntısına neden olur.

Telsiz menzilindeki bir saldırgan, geçersiz MIC içeren çerçeveler göndererek yığını tüketebilir ve servis dışı bırakmaya yol açabilir.

Bu güvenlik açığı CVSS 3.1 taban puanına göre orta dereceli (6.5) etkiye sahiptir ve aktif istismarı bildirilmemiştir.

Show the technical text from the sources

The Mbed TLS crypto shim driver in drivers/crypto/crypto_mbedtls_shim.c drives PSA multipart cipher and AEAD operations. In mbedtls_cbc() and mbedtls_aead(), every error path after a successful psa_cipher_encrypt_setup() / psa_aead_decrypt_setup() returned directly without calling psa_cipher_abort() / psa_aead_abort(). Because the abort is the only thing that reaches mbedtls_cipher_free(), each failed operation permanently leaked the heap-allocated mbedtls_aes_context (roughly 288 bytes) that setup had allocated from Mbed TLS's fixed static heap (_mbedtls_heap[CONFIG_MBEDTLS_HEAP_SIZE], default 512 bytes). With CONFIG_PSA_CRYPTO_PROVIDER_TFM the leaked object is instead a finite secure-partition multipart-operation slot. The failure is chosen by an unauthenticated attacker. With CONFIG_NET_L2_IEEE802154_SECURITY backed by this driver, ieee802154_decrypt_auth() in subsys/net/l2/ieee802154/ieee802154_security.c invokes cipher_ccm_op() on every received secured frame, with no authentication ahead of the MIC check. A device in radio range can transmit a stream of syntactically valid 802.15.4 frames carrying a bogus MIC; each one makes psa_aead_verify() fail and leaks a block. The CBC path is reachable the same way through the OSDP secure channel, where CONFIG_OSDP_SC_ENABLED selects this shim and osdp_encrypt() / osdp_decrypt() leave out_buf_max unset, so every operation fails inside psa_cipher_update(). Exhausting the Mbed TLS heap — which the default configuration reaches after a couple of failed operations, and any realistic configuration reaches in well under a second of frames — makes all subsequent mbedtls_calloc() calls fail. Every later cryptographic operation in the image then fails permanently, including link-layer security and any TLS/DTLS sharing the same heap, until the device is rebooted. There is no memory corruption or information disclosure: frames with an invalid MIC are still rejected, so the impact is limited to availability. The fix routes all post-setup failures in mbedtls_cbc() and mbedtls_aead() through a common error: label that calls the matching PSA abort before returning. Setup failures need no change, since the PSA core aborts the operation itself when setup fails.

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

CWE: CWE-401

This explanation was compiled automatically from the source records. Scores, active exploitation, patch and exploit status come straight from the sources.

IMPACT: Affected Products and Software

Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-87044 vulnerability. Where our threat engine knows the exact affected versions, they are listed below.

IDVENDORPRODUCTACTION
1zephyrprojectzephyr View
Total affected vendors: 1|Products: 1

RED HAT CSAF/VEX: Product Impact Check

Red Hat has not yet published a CSAF/VEX impact record for this CVE. This does not mean “not affected”.

SCORING: CVSS from Multiple Sources

CVSS Scores

The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardised framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and display CVSS scores from several sources for each CVE.

SCOREVERSIONSEVERITYVECTORSOURCE
6.5CVSS V3_1MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HCVE CNA
6.5CVSS V31MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HNVD

Patch and Remediation Guide

Solution & Remediation Advisory

Patch verified

2 doğrulanmış yama veya düzeltilmiş sürüm kanıtı bulundu.

cvelist

Fix commit

Open source
reference

Fix commit

Open source
Confirm the affected product and version against the source evidence above.
Restrict access to internet-facing services and apply network segmentation.
Apply the official update named in the evidence only to the matching product and version.
Monitor server logs and network endpoints for signs of anomalous execution.

Public exploit and active exploitation status

Verified exploit intelligence

No verified public PoC, exploit repository or Metasploit module has been found for this CVE yet.

Weakness Classification and Attack Patterns (CWE & CAPEC)

CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorises the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-87044 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-87044 weaknesses.

Attack Vector and Accessibility

ExposureBitişik ağ
PermissionsGerekmiyor
UserGerekmiyor

Official Sources and Advisories

CVSS Vector Radar Chart

6.5 / 10
Attack VectorAdjacentComplexityLowPrivilegesNoneUser Interact.NoneConfidentialityLowIntegrityNoneAvailabilityHigh

Vulnerability Scoring Details

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack VectorAdjacent network
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone required
User InteractionNone required
Confidentiality (Gizlilik)Low
Integrity (Bütünlük)None
Availability (Erişilebilirlik)High

Yama doğrulandı

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Weakness Type (CWE & CAPEC)

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CVE-2026-87044 · Memory leak in the Mbed TLS crypto shim on…