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NULL-pointer dereference in MCUmgr serial/console SMP transport on buffer-pool exhaustion

Type: advisorySource: Official CVE List1 source record

mcumgr_serial_process_frag() in subsys/mgmt/mcumgr/transport/src/serial_util.c calls net_buf_reset() on the result of smp_packet_alloc() before checking it for NULL. smp_packet_alloc() uses net_buf_alloc(K_NO_WAIT) against the shared MCUmgr packet pool (CONFIG_MCUMGR_TRANSPORT_NETBUF_COUNT, default 4), which returns NULL when the pool is exhausted. In default builds the __ASSERT_NO_MSG in net_buf_reset is a no-op, so net_buf_simple_reset writes through the NULL pointer (buf->len = 0; buf->data = buf->__buf), causing a fault/crash. The fragment data reaches this code from attacker-controlled bytes on the MCUmgr serial/UART/shell-console transports (smp_uart.c, smp_raw_uart.c, smp_shell.c), and a fresh buffer is allocated at the start of essentially every new packet. An attacker on the serial/console link can flood the transport to drive the 4-entry buffer pool to exhaustion and induce the NULL dereference, crashing the device (denial of service). The defect was introduced after the original MCUmgr rework and shipped in Zephyr v4.4.0. The fix moves the NULL check ahead of net_buf_reset.

Announced Source revision 1
Original source ↗

CVE-2026-10648

Primary source · Revision 1

Imported from structured advisory data. Source references identify upstream records or fields; verify affected versions and your deployed configuration.

Security context

Source reference: cve:CVE-2026-10648

zephyr

Source reference: /containers/cna/affected/0/product

Affected versions
Not stated in this record
Fixed versions
Not stated in this record
Prerequisites
Not stated in this record

Structured affected-version data

Original package identities and version rules from this source.

[
  {
    "vendor": "zephyrproject",
    "product": "zephyr",
    "versions": [
      {
        "status": "affected",
        "version": "4.4.0",
        "lessThan": "4.4.1",
        "versionType": "semver"
      }
    ],
    "packageName": "zephyr",
    "programFiles": [
      "subsys/mgmt/mcumgr/transport/src/serial_util.c"
    ],
    "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected"
  }
]
Related CVEs
CVE-2026-10648

Source reference: /cveMetadata/cveId

Publisher severity

medium

Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics

Event
#30758 · Revision 1
Added to Heist Feed
Publisher date
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