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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-16513: zephyrproject zephyr · Memory-safety

Affects zephyrproject zephyrSource CVE Database V5

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Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High : upgrade to 4.4.2 or 4.3.2 soon.

Data as of 11 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none
CVSS scores by source
CNA (zephyr)CVSS 3.17.8
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 5% 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:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 28 Sep 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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 11 Nov 2026.

What to do

Upgrade zephyrproject zephyr to 4.4.2 or 4.3.2.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
zephyrprojectzephyrAffected
  • >=4.4.0 <4.4.2
Fixed in
  • 4.4.2
zephyrprojectzephyrAffected
  • >=3.4.0 <4.3.2
Fixed in
  • 4.3.2
GitHubzephyrpkg:github/zephyrOther threatsAffected
  • >=3.4.0 <4.3.2
  • >=4.4.0 <4.4.2
Fixed in
  • 4.3.2
  • 4.4.2

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

AI-suggested

A fix is available in Zephyr versions 4.3.2 and 4.4.2 that adds proper memory write validation (K_SYSCALL_MEMORY_WRITE) on the handle out-parameter before the vulnerable operation. Users should upgrade to these fixed versions to remediate the vulnerability.

Description

CVE-2026-16513 is a memory-safety vulnerability in the Zephyr RTOS affecting the userspace verifier function z_vrfy_rtio_sqe_copy_in_get_handles(). It allows a user-mode thread with access to an RTIO kernel object to perform a write-what-where operation by storing a kernel address through a pointer taken directly from user mode without proper write permission checks. This can lead to kernel memory corruption, including overwriting kernel function pointers or thread structures, enabling privilege escalation from user mode to kernel mode. The flaw affects Zephyr versions from 3.4.0 up to but not including 4.3.2 and from 4.4.0 up to but not including 4.4.2. The issue is fixed in versions 4.3.2 and 4.4.2 by adding proper memory write validation before the vulnerable operation.

References

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