CVE-2024-0240 in Gecko SDK
Summary
by MITRE • 02/15/2024
A memory leak in the Silicon Labs' Bluetooth stack for EFR32 products may cause memory to be exhausted when sending notifications to multiple clients, this results in all Bluetooth operations, such as advertising and scanning, to stop.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/06/2025
This vulnerability resides within the Silicon Labs EFR32 Bluetooth stack implementation where a memory leak occurs during notification transmission to multiple client devices. The flaw manifests when the system repeatedly sends Bluetooth notifications to numerous connected clients without properly releasing allocated memory resources. This memory consumption pattern leads to progressive memory exhaustion that ultimately cripples the Bluetooth functionality of the affected devices. The vulnerability specifically impacts the EFR32 product line which operates under the Bluetooth Low Energy protocol stack and is commonly deployed in IoT and wireless communication applications where multiple client connections are typical.
The technical root cause of this memory leak stems from improper memory management within the notification handling mechanism of the Bluetooth stack. When the system processes notifications to multiple clients, it allocates memory for each transmission but fails to systematically deallocate this memory upon completion of the operation. This represents a classic memory leak pattern that aligns with CWE-401, which catalogs improper resource management issues in software systems. The flaw operates at the application layer of the Bluetooth stack where notification handling routines are executed, and the memory allocation occurs within the context of the Bluetooth advertising and connection management functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple performance degradation to complete service disruption. As memory becomes increasingly consumed, the Bluetooth stack reaches a critical threshold where it can no longer maintain advertising functions, scanning operations, or establish new connections. This results in a complete halt to Bluetooth communication capabilities on the affected device, effectively rendering the wireless functionality inoperable. The disruption affects all Bluetooth operations including device discovery, connection establishment, and data transmission, creating a cascading failure that impacts the entire wireless communication ecosystem of the device. This vulnerability particularly affects IoT deployments where continuous Bluetooth connectivity is essential for device operation and data exchange.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require both immediate and long-term approaches to address the memory leak issue. Immediate remediation involves implementing proper memory deallocation routines within the notification handling code to ensure that allocated memory is released after each notification transmission. The solution must incorporate robust memory management practices that prevent accumulation of unused memory blocks during active notification processing. System administrators should consider implementing monitoring mechanisms to detect memory usage patterns and alert when thresholds are approached. Additionally, firmware updates from Silicon Labs should be deployed promptly to address the root cause of the memory leak. The mitigation approach aligns with ATT&CK technique T1499 which addresses resource exhaustion attacks, requiring defensive measures to prevent systems from being overwhelmed by memory consumption patterns. Organizations should also implement connection limiting mechanisms to reduce the number of concurrent client connections and thereby minimize the likelihood of triggering the memory leak condition.