Zephyr Project up to 4.4.1 UpdateHub updatehub.c z_impl_updatehub_probe out-of-bounds

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability described as critical has been identified in Zephyr Project Zephyr up to 4.4.1. The affected element is the function z_impl_updatehub_probe of the file subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c of the component UpdateHub. Executing a manipulation can lead to out-of-bounds. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-11809. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical was found in Zephyr Project Zephyr up to 4.4.1. This vulnerability affects the function z_impl_updatehub_probe of the file subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c of the component UpdateHub. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a out-of-bounds vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-125. The product reads data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer. As an impact it is known to affect availability. CVE summarizes:

The UpdateHub OTA client in subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c contains an out-of-bounds / uninitialized-memory read in z_impl_updatehub_probe(). The probe response from the UpdateHub server is copied into a heap buffer (metadata) that is correctly NUL-terminated, but a second buffer (metadata_copy) is allocated with k_malloc (unzeroed) and filled with memcpy(metadata_copy, metadata, strlen(metadata)), which omits the terminating NUL. Everything after the copied content remains uninitialized heap. When the first json_obj_parse() over the array descriptor fails, the code falls back to json_obj_parse(metadata_copy, strlen(metadata_copy), ...). The strlen() call scans past the copied bytes through uninitialized heap and, if no zero byte is found before the end of the allocation, reads beyond the buffer; the resulting over-long length is then parsed as JSON. The probe payload is fully controlled by the (malicious, compromised, or — without the optional CONFIG_UPDATEHUB_DTLS — on-path) UpdateHub server, which can craft a large payload that fails the first parse to drive this path. The consequence is a read of uninitialized heap, with a worst case of an out-of-bounds read past the metadata_copy allocation that can fault and crash the update thread/device, producing a network-triggerable denial of service. The over-read data is consumed only internally to evaluate the update and is not returned to the attacker, so there is no direct information disclosure and no out-of-bounds write. The fix zeroes metadata_copy with memset before the copy, guaranteeing NUL termination and bounding strlen() within the allocation.

The advisory is available at github.com. This vulnerability was named CVE-2026-11809 since 06/09/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be initiated remotely. No form of authentication is required for a successful exploitation. Technical details are known, but there is no available exploit.

Upgrading to version 4.4.2 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Type

• Project Management Software

Vendor

• Zephyr Project

Name

• Zephyr

Version

• 4.4.0
• 4.4.1

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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