Espressif ESP-IDF up to 5.5.2 GATT Service protocomm_ble use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Espressif ESP-IDF 5.1.6/5.2.6/5.3.4/5.4.3/5.5.2. This affects the function protocomm_ble of the component GATT Service. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-25507. Access to the local network is required for this attack. No exploit is available. It is recommended to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in Espressif ESP-IDF 5.1.6/5.2.6/5.3.4/5.4.3/5.5.2. This affects the function protocomm_ble of the component GATT Service. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In versions 5.5.2, 5.4.3, 5.3.4, 5.2.6, and 5.1.6, a use-after-free vulnerability was reported in the BLE provisioning transport (protocomm_ble) layer. The issue can be triggered by a remote BLE client while the device is in provisioning mode. The vulnerability occurred when provisioning was stopped with keep_ble_on = true. In this configuration, internal protocomm_ble state and GATT metadata were freed while the BLE stack and GATT services remained active. Subsequent BLE read or write callbacks dereferenced freed memory, allowing a connected or newly connected client to trigger invalid memory acces. This issue has been patched in versions 5.5.3, 5.4.4, 5.3.5, 5.2.7, and 5.1.7.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-25507 since 02/02/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. Access to the local network is required for this attack to succeed. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. It demands that the victim is doing some kind of user interaction. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 5.1.6, 5.1.7, 5.2.6, 5.2.7, 5.3.4, 5.3.5, 5.4.3, 5.4.4, 5.5.2 or 5.5.3 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0540c85140c2c06c0cbecc8843277ea676d5c4a9 is able to eliminate this problem. The bugfix is ready for download at github.com. The best possible mitigation is suggested to be upgrading to the latest version.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• Espressif

Name

• ESP-IDF

Version

• 5.1.6
• 5.2.6
• 5.3.4
• 5.4.3
• 5.5.2

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://github.com/espressif/esp-idf/

CPE 2.3info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CPE 2.2info

• 🔒
• 🔒
• 🔒

CVSSv4info

CVSSv3info

CVSSv2info

Exploitinginfo

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Countermeasuresinfo

Timelineinfo

Sourcesinfo

Entryinfo

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Discussion