CVE-2024-48984VulnerabilityPublished 20 Nov 2024Updated 25 Nov 2024

CVE-2024-48984: mbed-os · n/a

Affects mbed-osSource CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 9.8 Critical.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

9.8Critical

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 45% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: High: There is total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the impacted component being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: High: There is total loss of availability, resulting in the attacker being able to fully deny access to resources in the impacted component; this loss is either sustained (while the attacker continues to deliver the attack) or persistent (the condition persists even after the attack has completed). Alternatively, the attacker has the ability to deny some availability, but the loss of availability presents a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component (e.g., the attacker cannot disrupt existing connections, but can prevent new connections; the attacker can repeatedly exploit a vulnerability that, in each instance of a successful attack, leaks a only small amount of memory, but after repeated exploitation causes a service to become completely unavailable).

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Nov 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
GitHubmbed-ce/mbed-os`pkg:github/mbed-ce/mbed-os`Other threats	Affected =6.16.0	Fixed in–

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-48984, organizations should prioritize updating MBed OS to a patched version once available from the vendor or community. In the absence of an official patch, developers should implement strict input validation on HCI report lengths to ensure all calculated report addresses remain within buffer boundaries before copying data. Employing compiler-based security features such as stack canaries, Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR), and Control Flow Integrity (CFI) can help reduce exploitation risk. Network-level controls to restrict unauthorized Bluetooth access, such as enforcing device pairing and authentication, can limit exposure. Monitoring Bluetooth traffic for anomalous or malformed HCI reports may provide early detection of exploitation attempts. Additionally, conducting thorough code reviews and fuzz testing on Bluetooth stack implementations can uncover similar vulnerabilities proactively. For critical deployments, consider isolating Bluetooth-enabled devices on segmented networks to contain potential compromises. Finally, maintain an incident response plan tailored to embedded device compromise scenarios to enable rapid containment and recovery.

Description

An issue was discovered in MBed OS 6.16.0. When parsing hci reports, the hci parsing software dynamically determines the length of a list of reports by reading a byte from an input stream. It then fetches the length of the first report, uses it to calculate the beginning of the second report, etc. In doing this, it tracks the largest report so it can later allocate a buffer that fits every individual report (but only one at a time). It does not, however, validate that these addresses are all contained within the buffer passed to hciEvtProcessLeExtAdvReport. It is then possible, though unlikely, that the buffer designated to hold the reports is allocated in such a way that one of these out-of-bounds length fields is contained within the new buffer. When the (n-1)th report is copied, it overwrites the length field of the nth report. This now corrupted length field is then used for a memcpy into the new buffer, which may lead to a buffer overflow.

Impact

The impact of CVE-2024-48984 is severe for organizations deploying MBed OS-based devices with Bluetooth functionality. Successful exploitation can lead to arbitrary code execution, enabling attackers to take full control of the affected device, compromise sensitive data, or disrupt device operation causing denial of service. This is particularly critical for IoT devices used in industrial control systems, healthcare, smart home environments, and other embedded applications where device integrity and availability are paramount. The vulnerability's remote, unauthenticated nature increases the attack surface, allowing attackers to exploit devices over Bluetooth without requiring physical access or user interaction. This could facilitate lateral movement within networks or serve as an entry point for broader attacks. Given the widespread use of MBed OS in constrained embedded devices, the vulnerability could affect a large number of devices globally, potentially impacting supply chains and critical infrastructure relying on these devices. The lack of current known exploits provides a window for mitigation, but the critical severity demands immediate attention to prevent future exploitation.

CWE-120Buffer Copy without Checking Size of Input ('Classic Buffer Overflow') (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #11
The product copies an input buffer to an output buffer without verifying that the size of the input buffer is less than the size of the output buffer.
Requirements · Language Selection
Use a language that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
Operation · Build and Compilation · Environment Hardening
Use automatic buffer overflow detection mechanisms that are offered by certain compilers or compiler extensions. Examples include: the Microsoft Visual Studio /GS flag, Fedora/Red Hat FORTIFY_SOURCE GCC flag, StackGuard, and ProPolice, which provide various mechanisms including canary-based detection and range/index…
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Docker Security (opens in a new tab)
XML Security (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V5.4.1 (opens in a new tab)
V14.1.2 (opens in a new tab)
V13.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Buffer Overflow via Environment Variables (opens in a new tab)
Overflow Buffers (opens in a new tab)
Client-side Injection-induced Buffer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
Filter Failure through Buffer Overflow (opens in a new tab)
MIME Conversion (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 27 Feb 2026, 21:49 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-120

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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