CVE-2026-102004 in VxWorks
Summary
by MITRE • 09/28/2026
Wind River VxWorks 7 prior to 26.09, specific system call arguments can result in memory corruption within the memory management subsystem. Fixed in Version 26.09
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/28/2026
The vulnerability identified in Wind River VxWorks 7 versions prior to 26.09 represents a critical flaw within the operating systems core memory management subsystem, specifically triggered by improper handling of arguments passed through specific system calls. As a real-time operating system widely deployed in safety-critical embedded environments such as aerospace, defense, industrial control systems, and medical devices, VxWorks relies on strict adherence to memory boundaries to maintain stability and security. The flaw arises when the kernel processes certain system call parameters without adequate validation or bounds checking, leading to conditions where invalid pointers or out-of-bounds indices are accepted by the memory management routines. This lack of rigorous input sanitization allows an attacker who can invoke these specific system calls to manipulate internal data structures that govern memory allocation and deallocation.
From a technical perspective, this vulnerability is classified under CWE-120 Buffer Overflow if it involves writing beyond allocated boundaries or CWE-787 Out-of-bounds Write depending on the exact mechanism of corruption. The core issue lies in the failure of the kernel to verify that user-supplied arguments fall within valid memory ranges before applying them to internal data structures. When these unchecked values are processed, they can cause writes to arbitrary locations in kernel space or corrupt heap metadata. This type of error is particularly dangerous because it bypasses standard protection mechanisms designed for user-space applications and directly compromises the integrity of the operating system itself. The absence of proper boundary checks means that maliciously crafted inputs can overwrite adjacent memory regions, potentially overwriting function pointers, control structures, or other critical kernel data.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe due to its potential for privilege escalation and denial of service. Since VxWorks often runs with high privileges in embedded systems, exploiting this flaw allows an attacker to execute arbitrary code within the context of the operating system kernel. This effectively grants full control over the affected device, enabling the exfiltration of sensitive data, modification of critical configurations, or complete takeover of the host environment. Furthermore, even if exploitation for remote code execution is not immediately feasible, the memory corruption can lead to unpredictable system behavior, including crashes and reboots, which constitutes a denial-of-service condition. In safety-critical applications such as avionics or industrial automation, such instability poses significant risks to physical safety and operational continuity.
This vulnerability aligns with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1055 Process Injection if the corruption is leveraged to inject code into legitimate processes, or more broadly under privilege escalation vectors where kernel memory manipulation leads to elevated access rights. The exploitation path typically requires local access or a network-facing service that exposes the vulnerable system calls, highlighting the importance of defense-in-depth strategies in embedded deployments. To mitigate this risk, organizations must ensure that all VxWorks 7 instances are upgraded to version 26.09 or later, where Wind River has implemented rigorous input validation and bounds checking within the memory management subsystem. Additionally, implementing strict access controls on system call interfaces and employing runtime protection mechanisms such as stack canaries or address space layout randomization where supported by the platform configuration can further reduce the attack surface until patches are applied. Regular security audits of embedded firmware images and adherence to secure coding standards like MISRA C are also recommended practices to prevent similar vulnerabilities in future development cycles.