CVE-2026-109587: CWE-863 Incorrect authorization in FreeRTOS FreeRTOS-Kernel
Description
Bulletin ID: 2026-138-AWS Scope: AWS Content Type: Important (requires attention) Publication Date: 10/16/2026 10:00 AM PDT Description: FreeRTOS-Kernel is a real-time operating system kernel for microcontrollers and small microprocessors, distributed by Amazon. AWS identified two issues with the FreeRTOS-Kernel Arm Cortex-R82 (Armv8-R AArch64) MPU port, affecting multiple versions. CVE-2026-109587: incorrect authorization in the Arm Cortex-R82 MPU port. On MPU-enabled builds, the port does not correctly enforce the memory-region boundaries assigned to an unprivileged task when it passes a buffer argument to an MPU system call. Under certain conditions, an unprivileged task might read and write privileged kernel memory outside the regions assigned to it. This issue affects Arm Cortex-R82 builds with configENABLE_MPU=1; applications that do not use the FreeRTOS MPU are not affected. CVE-2026-109588: numeric truncation in the MPU buffer authorization check on the Arm Cortex-R82 MPU port. On MPU-enabled builds, the buffer-length validation does not correctly account for the full length of a buffer passed to a stream buffer system call. Under certain conditions, an unprivileged task might read or write privileged kernel memory beyond the validated buffer window. This issue affects Arm Cortex-R82 builds with configENABLE_MPU=1; applications that do not use the FreeRTOS MPU are not affected. Impacted versions: - CVE-2026-109587 (MPU region authorization): V11.3.0 and V11.3.1 (Arm Cortex-R82 builds with configENABLE_MPU=1) - CVE-2026-109588 (MPU buffer length truncation): V11.3.0 and V11.3.1 (Arm Cortex-R82 builds with configENABLE_MPU=1) Please refer to the article below for the most up-to-date and complete information related to this AWS Security Bulletin.
CVSS v3.1
Score 8.8high
Affected software
FreeRTOS
FreeRTOS-Kernel
pkg:github/freertos/FreeRTOS-KernelRun on your own infrastructure? Check whether these packages are installed with threat-finder — our free open-source scanner.
Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
This vulnerability (CVE-2026-109587) affects the Arm Cortex-R82 (Armv8-R AArch64) MPU port in FreeRTOS-Kernel versions 11.3.0 and 11.3.1. It is caused by incorrect authorization checks in the MPU system call handling, which permits an unprivileged task on MPU-enabled builds to access privileged kernel memory regions beyond those assigned to it by passing a crafted buffer argument. This flaw can be exploited to read and write kernel memory, potentially leading to full system compromise. The vendor has released FreeRTOS-Kernel version 11.3.2 to remediate this issue.
Potential Impact
Successful exploitation allows an unprivileged task to read and write privileged kernel memory outside its assigned regions, resulting in high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the system. This can lead to unauthorized access and control over kernel memory, potentially compromising the entire system.
Mitigation Recommendations
Users should upgrade FreeRTOS-Kernel to version 11.3.2 or later to remediate this vulnerability. No other mitigations are specified in the vendor advisory.
Technical Details
- Data Version
- 5.2
- Assigner Short Name
- AMZN
- Date Reserved
- 2026-10-12T20:09:13.779Z
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Vendor Advisory Urls
- [{"url":"https://aws.amazon.com/security/security-bulletins/2026-138-aws/","vendor":"AWS"}]
Threat ID: 6ad260872cdf04f65616625e
Added to database: 10/16/2026, 17:36:07 UTC
Last enriched: 10/16/2026, 17:48:15 UTC
Last updated: 10/16/2026, 18:49:33 UTC
Views: 5
Community Reviews
0 reviewsCrowdsource mitigation strategies, share intel context, and vote on the most helpful responses. Sign in to add your voice and help keep defenders ahead.
Want to contribute mitigation steps or threat intel context? Sign in or create an account to join the community discussion.
Actions
Updates to AI analysis require Pro Console access. Upgrade inside Console → Billing.
Need more coverage?
Upgrade to Pro Console for AI refresh and higher limits.
For incident response and remediation, OffSeq services can help resolve threats faster.
Latest Threats
Check if your credentials are on the dark web
Instant breach scanning across billions of leaked records. Free tier available.