CVE-2026-13467 in Trusted Firmware
Summary
by MITRE • 09/24/2026
Out-of-bounds write vulnerability in Altera Trusted Firmware on HPS allows Exploitation of Improperly Configured or Implemented Memory Protections.
This issue affects Trusted Firmware: through socfpga_v2.14.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/24/2026
The identified vulnerability represents a critical security flaw within the Altera Trusted Firmware, specifically impacting systems utilizing the Hard Processor System (HPS) architecture up to version 2.14.0 of the trusted firmware component. This out-of-bounds write condition allows an attacker who has achieved initial code execution or sufficient privilege levels within the firmware environment to corrupt memory structures beyond their allocated boundaries. Such vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous in embedded systems and hardware security modules because they can bypass standard memory protection mechanisms that are intended to isolate critical system components from less trusted software layers. The exploitation of this flaw enables an adversary to manipulate control flow, escalate privileges, or compromise the integrity of the boot process itself, which serves as the foundation for all subsequent operations on the device.
From a technical perspective, out-of-bounds writes occur when a program writes data to a memory location outside the bounds of the intended buffer or array. In the context of Trusted Firmware, this often involves manipulating low-level hardware registers, interrupt controllers, or secure world state variables. When these structures are corrupted due to improper boundary checks during initialization or runtime operations, it can lead to arbitrary code execution in EL3 (Exception Level 3), which is typically reserved for firmware and hypervisor tasks with the highest level of access on ARM-based architectures like those found in Altera SoCs. This directly relates to CWE-787: Out-of-bounds Write, a fundamental category of memory safety errors that remain prevalent despite decades of awareness due to their complexity in low-level systems programming where manual memory management is often required for performance and hardware control reasons.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple application crashes or data corruption. Because Trusted Firmware operates at the root of the trust chain, compromising it allows an attacker to establish persistent access that survives reboots and resists many standard software-based remediation efforts. An adversary could potentially disable security features such as Secure Boot, extract cryptographic keys stored in secure memory, or inject malicious code into subsequent operating system images before they are loaded by the kernel. This effectively undermines the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the entire platform. The ability to exploit improperly configured or implemented memory protections highlights a failure in enforcing strict isolation boundaries between different security domains within the processor, allowing lateral movement from less privileged contexts to highly privileged firmware environments.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate patching and long-term architectural improvements. The primary remediation is to update the Altera Trusted Firmware to a version that addresses this specific out-of-bounds write condition, ensuring that all boundary checks are rigorously enforced before memory access operations occur. Developers should also implement static analysis tools specifically tuned for embedded C code to detect potential buffer overflows during the development lifecycle. Furthermore, enabling hardware-based security features such as Memory Protection Units (MPUs) or TrustZone isolation policies can help contain the blast radius of any remaining vulnerabilities by restricting what memory regions different execution levels can access. Regular auditing of firmware against industry standards like CWE-787 and mapping potential attack paths to MITRE ATT&CK techniques, particularly those related to privilege escalation such as T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation or persistence mechanisms in the boot process, is essential for maintaining a robust security posture. Organizations relying on these systems should also consider implementing runtime integrity monitoring solutions that can detect anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts against firmware components.