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Integer underflow in IEEE 802.15.4 frame decryption leads to out-of-bounds read and write

Type: advisorySource: Official CVE List1 source record

ieee802154_decipher_data_frame() in subsys/net/l2/ieee802154/ieee802154_frame.c computed payload_len = net_pkt_get_len(pkt) - ll_hdr_len - authtag_len without first checking that the received frame is at least ll_hdr_len + authtag_len bytes long. All three variables are uint8_t, so a frame whose payload is shorter than the configured authentication tag makes the subtraction wrap around to a large value (up to 255). The wrapped length is passed unchanged to ieee802154_decrypt_auth() and on to the CCM operation as cipher_pkt.in_len/out_buf_max, with apkt->tag pointing at frame + ll_hdr_len + payload_len. Because the receive buffer is allocated to the exact length of the frame received from the radio driver, the crypto layer then reads several hundred bytes past the end of the packet buffer and writes the same number of decrypted bytes back over it in place. The frame's authentication tag is only verified after this processing has taken place, so no key material, association or prior authentication is needed — a single crafted short frame from any device in radio range is sufficient. Frame validation in ieee802154_validate_frame() does not prevent it: a data frame is accepted with a one-byte payload. The result is an out-of-bounds read and an out-of-bounds write of up to roughly 240 bytes into the adjacent network-buffer pool, corrupting other packets or allocator metadata and typically faulting the target. The out-of-bounds content is not attacker-chosen (it is ciphertext XOR k

Announced Source revision 1
Original source ↗

CVE-2026-19186

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-2026-19186

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": "3.2.0",
        "lessThan": "4.5.0",
        "versionType": "semver"
      }
    ],
    "packageName": "zephyr",
    "programFiles": [
      "subsys/net/l2/ieee802154/ieee802154_frame.c"
    ],
    "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
    "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
    "programRoutines": [
      {
        "name": "ieee802154_decipher_data_frame"
      }
    ]
  }
]
Related CVEs
CVE-2026-19186

Source reference: /cveMetadata/cveId

Publisher severity

high

Source reference: /containers/cna/metrics

Event
#32275 · Revision 1
Added to Heist Feed
Publisher date
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