CVE-2026-12233: zephyrproject zephyr · Dos
Affects zephyrproject zephyrSource CVE Database V5
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.9 Medium : upgrade to 4.4.2 or 4.3.2 when convenient.
Data as of 10 Nov 2026, 11:37 UTC
Thin evidence
One scorer or none| CNA (zephyr) | CVSS 3.1 | 5.9 |
|---|
- EPSS
- 0.5% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 43% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
- Patch
- Available – fixed in 4.4.2, 4.3.2
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 12 Aug 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: 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 10 Nov 2026.
What to do
Upgrade zephyrproject zephyr to 4.4.2 or 4.3.2.
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| zephyrprojectzephyr | Affected
| Fixed in
|
| zephyrprojectzephyr | Affected
| Fixed in
|
GitHubzephyrpkg:github/zephyrOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in
|
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AI-suggested
The described fix involves initializing the mutex statically with K_MUTEX_DEFINE to prevent the NULL pointer dereference. If you cannot patch yet, avoid configurations enabling CONFIG_TLS_CREDENTIALS_BACKEND_PROTECTED_STORAGE in concurrent TLS handshake scenarios to reduce exposure.
Description
The PSA Protected Storage credential backend (subsys/net/lib/tls_credentials/tls_credentials_trusted.c) declared its credential-store mutex as a plain zero-filled static struct k_mutex credential_lock; and never called k_mutex_init() on it. A statically zero-filled k_mutex has an uninitialized wait queue (its dlist head/tail are NULL instead of the self-referential sentinels that k_mutex_init/K_MUTEX_DEFINE install). The uncontended lock path does not touch the wait queue, so the defect is latent and serialized use behaves correctly. When two execution contexts contend on the lock, k_mutex_lock() pends the blocking thread on the wait queue via z_pend_curr(), which calls sys_dlist_append() on the zeroed list and dereferences a NULL tail pointer (tail->next = node), faulting the kernel. The lock is held during TLS handshake credential loading and by all credential add/get/delete operations, so a deployment performing concurrent TLS handshakes (for example a server handling multiple simultaneous connections from a remote peer) or a credential-management operation concurrent with a handshake can trigger the dereference. The impact is a denial of service: a deterministic kernel panic / device reset on the first contention. There is no memory corruption beyond the NULL dereference and no confidentiality or integrity impact; mutual exclusion on the fast path remains correct. Exposure is limited to builds with CONFIG_TLS_CREDENTIALS_BACKEND_PROTECTED_STORAGE enabled (PSA Protected Storage / TF-M platforms); the default volatile RAM backend initializes its lock correctly and is unaffected. The fix initializes the mutex statically with K_MUTEX_DEFINE(credential_lock), providing a valid wait queue so the contended path no longer touches a NULL list.