CVE-2026-75084
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Buffer Overflow in Zephyr RTOS IEEE 802.15.4 CC1200 Driver

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-75084, 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 CC1200 sub-GHz IEEE 802.15.4 driver takes the PHY packet length from the first byte of the radio's RX FIFO in get_packet_length() and validates it in verify_rxfifo_validity() (drivers/ieee802154/ieee802154_cc1200.c). That validation only enforced a lower bound (pkt_len < 3); its second clause rejects a FIFO that holds more bytes than declared and therefore never bounds large values. Because the driver configures the radio for variable packet length with PKT_LEN = 0xFF, the length byte is an over-the-air value of 0-255 that reached net_pkt_rx_alloc_with_buffer() and the subsequent SPI burst read unclamped. An unauthenticated attacker within radio range can transmit a frame that presents a length byte above the IEEE 802.15.4 maximum of 127 while the chip's 128-byte RX FIFO has not overflowed, so the driver's RX_FIFO_ERROR pre-check does not fire. Reaching this state depends on RF framing and timing, since the RX thread is driven off the PKT_SYNC_RXTX signal and may sample the FIFO before a packet is complete; no pairing, authentication, or user interaction is required. With the default CONFIG_NET_BUF_FIXED_DATA_SIZE and CONFIG_NET_BUF_DATA_SIZE=128, an allocation larger than one fragment is satisfied by a chain of fragments, but read_rxfifo_content() performs a single SPI burst of pkt_len bytes into the first fragment's buf->data and then calls net_buf_add() with the same length. A length above 128 therefore writes up to 127 bytes past the end of a fragment in the contiguous rx_bufs pool and leaves a net_buf whose len exceeds its capacity. The overflowing bytes are FIFO-underflow output rather than attacker-chosen data, so the practical impact is network-buffer-pool corruption and crashes rather than a controlled write. Only builds that enable CONFIG_IEEE802154_CC1200 with an attached CC1200 radio are affected.

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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 1.11.0

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-787 The product writes data past the end, or before the beginning, of the intended buffer.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability is an out-of-bounds write issue in the TI CC1200 IEEE 802.15.4 driver within Zephyr RTOS. The driver fails to validate the packet length properly, allowing an attacker within radio range to send a crafted frame with a length exceeding the IEEE 802.15.4 maximum of 127 bytes. The driver configures the radio for variable packet length up to 255 bytes, leading to buffer overflows when reading from the RX FIFO. This causes network-buffer-pool corruption and potential system crashes.

Detection Guidance

Detecting this vulnerability requires monitoring for oversized packets or buffer corruption in Zephyr RTOS systems using the CC1200 driver. Check for crashes or memory corruption during packet reception. Use network sniffing tools like Wireshark to capture and analyze IEEE 802.15.4 frames for packets exceeding 127 bytes. Monitor system logs for RX_FIFO_ERROR or buffer overflow messages.

Impact Analysis

An attacker can exploit this to cause buffer overflows, leading to memory corruption and system crashes. The overflow is not controlled, so attacker-chosen data is not reliably written, but the corruption can destabilize the system. Only systems using the CC1200 driver with CONFIG_IEEE802154_CC1200 enabled and an attached CC1200 radio are affected.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability primarily impacts system integrity and availability by causing buffer overflows and memory corruption in network buffer pools. While it does not directly expose sensitive data, it could lead to system crashes or unpredictable behavior, which may indirectly affect compliance by disrupting data processing or storage operations required by standards like GDPR or HIPAA.

Mitigation Strategies

Upgrade Zephyr RTOS to version 4.5.0 or later to apply the patch. Disable CONFIG_IEEE802154_CC1200 if the CC1200 radio is not in use. Implement packet length validation at the network layer to reject frames exceeding 127 bytes. Monitor for suspicious RF activity and restrict physical access to radio range.

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