CVE-2026-75083
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Buffer Overflow in NXP KW41Z IEEE 802.15.4 Driver

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-75083, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-10-14

Last updated on: 2026-10-16

Assigner: Zephyr Project

Description

The receive path of the NXP KW41Z IEEE 802.15.4 driver, kw41z_rx() in drivers/ieee802154/ieee802154_kw41z.c, computed the payload size as pkt_len = len - KW41Z_FCS_LENGTH in a uint8_t, where len is the frame length reported by the radio. The interrupt handler kw41z_isr() obtained that length from the RX_FRAME_LENGTH field of the ZLL IRQSTS register β€” a copy of the PHY header length byte of the frame received over the air β€” and only rejected the value zero. A reported length of one therefore underflowed to pkt_len == 255. Because the packet is allocated with NET_AF_UNSPEC on a non-Ethernet L2, net_pkt_rx_alloc_with_buffer() does not clamp the request to the interface MTU; with the default fixed-size buffer pool (CONFIG_NET_BUF_FIXED_DATA_SIZE, CONFIG_NET_BUF_DATA_SIZE=128) the allocation succeeded as a chain of two fragments. The subsequent register-to-buffer copy loops write into the first fragment only, so 255 bytes were written into a 128-byte net_buf data block, overrunning it by up to 127 bytes into adjacent network-buffer-pool memory, and reading up to 128 bytes past the end of the radio's PKT_BUFFER_RX register array. The length field originates from an unauthenticated frame transmitted by any device within 802.15.4 radio range, and is captured by the hardware at PHY-header time β€” before frame filtering has completed β€” while the handler samples it after clearing the interrupt status, so an attacker flooding frames with a length byte of one can drive the underflow. The impact is memory corruption in the shared receive buffer pool from interrupt context, most plausibly a crash or corruption of other packets' data; the overflowing bytes are radio register contents rather than attacker-authored data, which bounds the integrity impact. The fix rejects any length below KW41Z_FCS_LENGTH and additionally verifies net_buf_tailroom() of the first fragment before the copy loops, which also covers the CONFIG_NET_L2_OPENTHREAD variant of the size computation.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-10-14
Last Modified
2026-10-16
Generated
2026-10-19
AI Q&A
2026-10-15
EPSS Evaluated
2026-10-18
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

Showing 1 associated CPE
Vendor Product Version / Range
zephyrproject zephyr 1.8.0

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-191 The product subtracts one value from another, such that the result is less than the minimum allowable integer value, which produces a value that is not equal to the correct result.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is an integer underflow in the NXP KW41Z IEEE 802.15.4 driver of Zephyr RTOS. When the radio reports a frame length of 1, the driver calculates payload size as 1 minus a fixed value (KW41Z_FCS_LENGTH), causing an underflow to 255 in an 8-bit unsigned integer. This leads to a buffer overflow when copying 255 bytes into a 128-byte buffer, corrupting adjacent memory in the shared receive buffer pool.

Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires monitoring for abnormal behavior in the NXP KW41Z IEEE 802.15.4 driver within Zephyr RTOS. Check for crashes, memory corruption, or buffer overflow errors in logs. Monitor for frames with length 1, which trigger the underflow. Use network sniffing tools to inspect 802.15.4 frames for unusually large payloads or corrupted data.

Impact Analysis

An attacker within radio range can send specially crafted frames to trigger this flaw. The impact includes memory corruption in the shared receive buffer pool, potentially causing system crashes or corruption of other packets' data. The overflowing bytes originate from radio register contents, limiting direct data integrity risks but still posing availability and stability threats.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily impacts system availability and integrity due to memory corruption in the shared receive buffer pool, which could lead to crashes or data corruption. It does not directly expose or leak sensitive data, as the overflowing bytes originate from radio register contents rather than attacker-controlled data. Compliance impact depends on the system's use case and data handling. For GDPR, integrity and availability risks may require breach notifications if personal data is affected. For HIPAA, similar considerations apply if protected health information is processed.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade to Zephyr RTOS version 4.5.0 or later, where the fix is already merged. If upgrading is not immediately possible, apply the patch from the commit 51d71864578c08eb1a1201f87b46ec81c8609d62. Disable the vulnerable driver if not in use. Monitor network traffic for suspicious frames with length 1.

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