CVE-2026-11812
UpdateHub: race condition on shared context causes out-of-bounds write and DoS
Published Aug 10, 2026
CVSS 3.1 · 2.5 Low
EPSS < 1%
KEV · Not listed
Description
The UpdateHub management subsystem (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c) drives every update operation through a single file-scope ctx structure that holds the CoAP block context, payload buffer, status code, socket, and a one-element poll-fd array fds[1]. Access to ctx was not serialized, and prepare_fds() wrote ctx.fds[ctx.nfds] and incremented ctx.nfds with no bounds check.
Two independent paths mutate ctx concurrently: the background autohandler running on the system workqueue, and user-triggered operations reached through the updatehub run shell command, direct API calls, or — since the operations are exposed as syscalls — userspace threads. When a second flow enters prepare_fds() while ctx.nfds is already 1, the write lands one element past the array; by struct layout it overlaps the adjacent ctx.sock/ctx.nfds members. More broadly, the unsynchronized sharing lets two flows interleave connection setup and teardown, double-closing a socket descriptor or scribbling the shared buffers.
The result is corruption of the update subsystem's internal state and denial of service of the firmware-update path; the out-of-bounds write is contained within the ctx structure and there is no demonstrated path to memory outside it or to code execution. Triggering requires a local actor able to invoke update operations (or, with CONFIG_USERSPACE, an unprivileged userspace thread) and to win a timing race against the background handler; remote peers cannot control the race timing. The fix serializes the entry points with a mutex and adds a bounds check to prepare_fds().
Two independent paths mutate ctx concurrently: the background autohandler running on the system workqueue, and user-triggered operations reached through the updatehub run shell command, direct API calls, or — since the operations are exposed as syscalls — userspace threads. When a second flow enters prepare_fds() while ctx.nfds is already 1, the write lands one element past the array; by struct layout it overlaps the adjacent ctx.sock/ctx.nfds members. More broadly, the unsynchronized sharing lets two flows interleave connection setup and teardown, double-closing a socket descriptor or scribbling the shared buffers.
The result is corruption of the update subsystem's internal state and denial of service of the firmware-update path; the out-of-bounds write is contained within the ctx structure and there is no demonstrated path to memory outside it or to code execution. Triggering requires a local actor able to invoke update operations (or, with CONFIG_USERSPACE, an unprivileged userspace thread) and to win a timing race against the background handler; remote peers cannot control the race timing. The fix serializes the entry points with a mutex and adds a bounds check to prepare_fds().
Affected Products
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CVE record
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NVD configurations
No data
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Red Hat packages
No data
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OpenCVE enrichment
Default status is the baseline for the product, each version can override it (e.g. patched versions marked unaffected).
| Vendor | Product | Default status | Versions | |||||||||
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| zephyrproject | zephyr | unaffected |
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No data.
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| Vendor | Product | Versions | ||||||||
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| Zephyrproject | Zephyr |
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Remediation
Tracking
Advisories
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0
Attack Vector Local
Attack Complexity High
Privileges Required Low
Scope Unchanged
Confidentiality Impact None
Integrity Impact None
Availability Impact Low
User Interaction None
No CVSS v3.0
No CVSS v2
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
Exploit prediction score: < 1% (0.104% probability within 30 days)
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact partial
References
History
Aug 12, 2026 7:30 PM
Scoring metrics updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
ssvc
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Aug 11, 2026 2:00 AM
First appearance in the feed. Affected vendors updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Zephyrproject
Zephyrproject zephyr |
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| Vendors & Products |
Zephyrproject
Zephyrproject zephyr |
Aug 10, 2026 11:15 PM
Description updated. Title updated. Weaknesses updated. Added references. Scoring metrics updated
View changes
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | The UpdateHub management subsystem (subsys/mgmt/updatehub/updatehub.c) drives every update operation through a single file-scope ctx structure that holds the CoAP block context, payload buffer, status code, socket, and a one-element poll-fd array fds[1]. Access to ctx was not serialized, and prepare_fds() wrote ctx.fds[ctx.nfds] and incremented ctx.nfds with no bounds check. Two independent paths mutate ctx concurrently: the background autohandler running on the system workqueue, and user-triggered operations reached through the updatehub run shell command, direct API calls, or — since the operations are exposed as syscalls — userspace threads. When a second flow enters prepare_fds() while ctx.nfds is already 1, the write lands one element past the array; by struct layout it overlaps the adjacent ctx.sock/ctx.nfds members. More broadly, the unsynchronized sharing lets two flows interleave connection setup and teardown, double-closing a socket descriptor or scribbling the shared buffers. The result is corruption of the update subsystem's internal state and denial of service of the firmware-update path; the out-of-bounds write is contained within the ctx structure and there is no demonstrated path to memory outside it or to code execution. Triggering requires a local actor able to invoke update operations (or, with CONFIG_USERSPACE, an unprivileged userspace thread) and to win a timing race against the background handler; remote peers cannot control the race timing. The fix serializes the entry points with a mutex and adds a bounds check to prepare_fds(). | |
| Title | UpdateHub: race condition on shared context causes out-of-bounds write and DoS | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-362 | |
| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV3_1
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Subscriptions
Weaknesses
