CVE-2026-2411
Received Received - Intake

Bluetooth Attribute Permission Bypass in Zephyr RTOS

Vulnerability report for CVE-2026-2411, including description, CVSS score, EPSS score, affected products, exploitability, helpful resources, and attack-flow context.

Publication date: 2026-08-01

Last updated on: 2026-08-01

Assigner: Zephyr Project

Description

Zephyr's Bluetooth host declares a GATT characteristic as two consecutive attributes: a Characteristic Declaration whose permission is hard-coded to BT_GATT_PERM_READ, and a Characteristic Value attribute that carries the application-specified security permissions (e.g. BT_GATT_PERM_READ_ENCRYPT / READ_AUTHEN / READ_LESC). The public notify and indicate APIs explicitly accept either attribute, and passing the declaration is the documented, common idiom. Before sending each notification or indication, the host re-checks link security with bt_gatt_check_perm() against params->attr in gatt_notify(), gatt_indicate(), and gatt_notify_multiple_verify_params() (subsys/bluetooth/host/gatt.c). When the application passed the Characteristic Declaration attribute, the host correctly redirected the value handle but left params->attr pointing at the declaration, so the security check evaluated the declaration's permissions (no security required) instead of the value's. As a result the encryption/authentication/LESC requirement configured on the characteristic value was skipped. The Notify-Multiple path additionally used a mask that omitted the LE Secure Connections requirement. A remote peer triggers the disclosure by connecting (optionally without pairing or encryption) and writing the Client Characteristic Configuration descriptor to enable notifications or indications, causing the server to emit the protected value over a link that has not reached the required security level. The impact is information disclosure / access-control bypass for characteristic values the application intended to expose only over a secured link; exposure depends on the application declaring encrypt/authen-required notify/indicate characteristics and on the CCC being writable at a lower security tier. There is no memory-safety or availability impact. The fix adds bt_gatt_attr_resolve_value(), which maps a declaration attribute to the following value attribute before the permission check, and switches the Notify-Multiple path to the full BT_GATT_PERM_READ_ENCRYPT_MASK so the LESC requirement is also enforced.

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Meta Information

Published
2026-08-01
Last Modified
2026-08-01
Generated
2026-08-01
AI Q&A
2026-08-01
EPSS Evaluated
N/A
NVD
EUVD

Affected Vendors & Products

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

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-863 The product performs an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action, but it does not correctly perform the check.

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Executive Summary

This vulnerability in Zephyr's Bluetooth host allows a remote peer to access protected characteristic values without proper encryption or authentication. The issue occurs because the host checks permissions on the wrong attribute when notifications or indications are enabled, bypassing security requirements set on the characteristic value.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability requires checking Bluetooth GATT characteristic configurations in Zephyr-based systems. Inspect the application's Bluetooth attribute declarations and ensure the Characteristic Value attributes have proper security permissions (BT_GATT_PERM_READ_ENCRYPT, BT_GATT_PERM_READ_AUTHEN, or BT_GATT_PERM_READ_LESC). Verify that notifications or indications are only enabled after proper link security is established.

Impact Analysis

An attacker could connect to a vulnerable device and read sensitive data transmitted via Bluetooth notifications or indications. This includes data the application intended to protect with encryption or authentication. The impact is information disclosure, but no memory corruption or system downtime.

Compliance Impact

This vulnerability could lead to non-compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR or HIPAA if it results in unauthorized access to sensitive personal or health data. Organizations using affected Zephyr Bluetooth implementations may need to apply patches to maintain compliance.

Mitigation Strategies

Apply the official patch from Zephyr that introduces bt_gatt_attr_resolve_value() to correctly resolve the Characteristic Value attribute before security checks. Ensure all GATT characteristics with notify/indicate properties enforce encryption, authentication, or LESC requirements as intended by the application.

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