Report · Zero Day InitiativeAbout CVE-2026-18278Published 30 Jul 2026

ZDI-26-471: (Pwn2Own) Sony XAV-9500ES prh_l2_decode_packet Out-Of-Bounds Read Information Disclosure Vulnerability

Source Zero Day Initiative

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-18278· Low 3.5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 3.5 Low.

Data as of 5 Nov 2026, 23:24 UTC

CVSS 3.0 base score

3.5Low

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

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 15% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.0/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

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

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

Attack Vector: Adjacent: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack, but the attack is limited at the protocol level to a logically adjacent topology. This can mean an attack must be launched from the same shared physical (e.g., Bluetooth or IEEE 802.11) or logical (e.g., local IP subnet) network, or from within a secure or otherwise limited administrative domain (e.g., MPLS, secure VPN to an administrative network zone).
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: Required: Successful exploitation of this vulnerability requires a user to take some action before the vulnerability can be exploited.
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: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 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 6 Nov 2026.

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.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity 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.

cwe-125

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
SonyXAV-9500ES	Affected =3.02.0.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

Sony has issued an official update to correct this vulnerability. Users of the Sony XAV-9500ES device should apply the provided update available at Sony's support page: https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/mobile-cd-players-digital-media-players-xav-series/xav-9500es/software/00274922. Applying this update mitigates the vulnerability. No additional mitigations are specified or required.

Description

Sony XAV-9500ES prh_l2_decode_packet Out-Of-Bounds Read Information Disclosure Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to disclose sensitive information on affected installations of Sony XAV-9500ES devices. An attacker must first obtain the ability to pair a malicious Bluetooth device with the target system in order to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the handling of Bluetooth L2CAP packets. The issue results from the lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, which can result in a read past the end of an allocated buffer. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute arbitrary code in the context of the device. Was ZDI-CAN-28990.

Impact

An attacker with the ability to pair a malicious Bluetooth device can cause the device to disclose sensitive information due to an out-of-bounds read. The CVSS score is 3.5 (low severity), indicating limited impact. There is no indication of active exploitation in the wild. The vulnerability could potentially be leveraged with other flaws for more severe impacts, but on its own it results in information disclosure only.

Summary

CVE-2026-18278 is an information disclosure vulnerability in the Sony XAV-9500ES device's Bluetooth L2CAP packet processing function prh_l2_decode_packet. The vulnerability arises from a lack of proper validation of user-supplied data, leading to an out-of-bounds read past the end of an allocated buffer. Exploitation requires an attacker to pair a malicious Bluetooth device with the target system. While the immediate impact is information disclosure, the advisory notes that this flaw could be combined with other vulnerabilities to achieve arbitrary code execution. Sony has released an update to fix this vulnerability.

References

zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-26-471/ (opens in a new tab)

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