espressif esp-idf up to 6.0 Protocomm security2.c handle_session_command0 heap-based overflow

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in espressif esp-idf 5.2.6/5.3.5/5.4.4/5.5.4/6.0. This affects the function handle_session_command0 of the file components/protocomm/src/security/security2.c of the component Protocomm. The manipulation results in heap-based overflow. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-45542. Access to the local network is required for this attack. No exploit is available. Upgrading the affected component is advised.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability, which was classified as critical, was found in espressif esp-idf 5.2.6/5.3.5/5.4.4/5.5.4/6.0. Affected is the function handle_session_command0 of the file components/protocomm/src/security/security2.c of the component Protocomm. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a heap-based overflow vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-122. A heap overflow condition is a buffer overflow, where the buffer that can be overwritten is allocated in the heap portion of memory, generally meaning that the buffer was allocated using a routine such as malloc(). This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In versions 5.2.6, 5.3.5, 5.4.4, 5.5.4, and 6.0, a heap buffer overflow exists in the Security Scheme 2 (SRP6a) session-setup path of the protocomm component. The first-phase handler (handle_session_command0() in components/protocomm/src/security/security2.c) trusts the length of a client-supplied protobuf field for the SRP6a username and copies it into a buffer whose size is derived from a narrower destination type. The resulting truncation-versus-copy asymmetry corrupts the heap when an oversized value is supplied. This issue has been patched in versions 5.2.7, 5.3.6, 5.4.5, 5.5.5, and 6.0.1.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-45542 since 05/12/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. The attack needs to approached within the local network. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 5.2.6, 5.2.7, 5.3.5, 5.3.6, 5.4.4, 5.4.5, 5.5.4, 5.5.5, 6.0 or 6.0.1 eliminates this vulnerability. Applying the patch 0ea58d79845ad674d0358d5de246015a68c4cb4f 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.

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• espressif

Name

• esp-idf

Version

• 5.2.6
• 5.3.5
• 5.4.4
• 5.5.4
• 6.0

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

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Discussion