CVE-2026-19737 (GCVE-0-2026-19737)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-11 17:15 – Updated: 2026-10-11 17:15
VLAI
Title
NULL pointer dereference in the ESP32 I2S driver when triggering an unsupported direction
Summary
i2s_esp32_trigger_check() in drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c validates the requested direction only for I2S_DIR_BOTH. The I2S_DIR_RX and I2S_DIR_TX branches read dev_cfg->rx.data->configured / dev_cfg->tx.data->configured without first checking the stream pointers. The device instantiation macro I2S_ESP32_STREAM_INIT() sets both .conf and .data to NULL for a direction the devicetree does not describe, so on an instance that wires only one direction — the normal shape for audio output or a worldsemi,ws2812-i2s LED strip — the other direction dereferences a NULL pointer instead of returning an error. i2s_trigger() is a Zephyr syscall, and z_vrfy_i2s_trigger() in drivers/i2s/i2s_handlers.c validates only the device object and the presence of the trigger API pointer; the dir argument is passed to the driver unvalidated. On a build with CONFIG_USERSPACE enabled, a user-mode thread that has been granted the I2S device can issue a single i2s_trigger() call naming the unwired direction and cause a load from address 0 in kernel mode. Among the Espressif parts that carry this driver, userspace is available in-tree only on RISC-V SoCs with CONFIG_RISCV_PMP, and v4.4.0 is the first release where that is buildable: the ESP32-C6 HPCORE selects RISCV_PMP when it is not built for MCUboot. ESP32-C5 in v4.4.x carries the same PMP-region and userspace linker support but does not select RISCV_PMP by default. Espressif Xtensa targets do not support Zephyr userspace, and in a non-userspace build the bad direction can only come from in-kernel application code. The impact is limited to availability: the access is a read at offset 0 of the missing stream structure, so there is no attacker-controlled offset, no write primitive and no information disclosure. With the default fatal-error handler the resulting exception halts the system, giving an unprivileged user-mode thread a system-wide denial of service. The fix adds the same pointer check the I2S_DIR_BOTH branch already performed and returns -ENOSYS for a direction the instance does not implement; the driver's other entry points (i2s_esp32_config_check(), i2s_esp32_config_get(), i2s_esp32_read(), i2s_esp32_write()) already guarded the pointers, and a static audit found no equivalent unguarded path. The driver defect is older than the affected range. The unguarded dereference is present from v4.2.0 (reached through i2s_esp32_trigger_stream(), whose if (stream) guard tests the address of a struct member and is never false) and takes its present i2s_esp32_trigger_check() form in v4.3.0. No in-tree Espressif configuration before v4.4.0 can run a user-mode thread, so in v4.2.x and v4.3.x the direction argument can only come from trusted kernel code. Those releases carry the bug but are not listed as affected; the fix has also been merged to v4.3-branch as hardening.
Severity
5.5 (Medium)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
CWE
Assigner
zephyr CNA under the mitre root
CNA scorecard B 77/100 over 166 records in the last 180 days details
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version CPE status
zephyrproject zephyr Affected: 4.4.0 , < 4.5.0 (semver)
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{
  "containers": {
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "packageName": "zephyr",
          "product": "zephyr",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c"
          ],
          "programRoutines": [
            {
              "name": "i2s_esp32_trigger"
            },
            {
              "name": "i2s_esp32_trigger_check"
            }
          ],
          "vendor": "zephyrproject",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThan": "4.5.0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "4.4.0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "i2s_esp32_trigger_check() in drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c validates the requested direction only for I2S_DIR_BOTH. The I2S_DIR_RX and I2S_DIR_TX branches read dev_cfg-\u003erx.data-\u003econfigured / dev_cfg-\u003etx.data-\u003econfigured without first checking the stream pointers. The device instantiation macro I2S_ESP32_STREAM_INIT() sets both .conf and .data to NULL for a direction the devicetree does not describe, so on an instance that wires only one direction \u2014 the normal shape for audio output or a worldsemi,ws2812-i2s LED strip \u2014 the other direction dereferences a NULL pointer instead of returning an error.\n\ni2s_trigger() is a Zephyr syscall, and z_vrfy_i2s_trigger() in drivers/i2s/i2s_handlers.c validates only the device object and the presence of the trigger API pointer; the dir argument is passed to the driver unvalidated. On a build with CONFIG_USERSPACE enabled, a user-mode thread that has been granted the I2S device can issue a single i2s_trigger() call naming the unwired direction and cause a load from address 0 in kernel mode. Among the Espressif parts that carry this driver, userspace is available in-tree only on RISC-V SoCs with CONFIG_RISCV_PMP, and v4.4.0 is the first release where that is buildable: the ESP32-C6 HPCORE selects RISCV_PMP when it is not built for MCUboot. ESP32-C5 in v4.4.x carries the same PMP-region and userspace linker support but does not select RISCV_PMP by default. Espressif Xtensa targets do not support Zephyr userspace, and in a non-userspace build the bad direction can only come from in-kernel application code.\n\nThe impact is limited to availability: the access is a read at offset 0 of the missing stream structure, so there is no attacker-controlled offset, no write primitive and no information disclosure. With the default fatal-error handler the resulting exception halts the system, giving an unprivileged user-mode thread a system-wide denial of service. The fix adds the same pointer check the I2S_DIR_BOTH branch already performed and returns -ENOSYS for a direction the instance does not implement; the driver\u0027s other entry points (i2s_esp32_config_check(), i2s_esp32_config_get(), i2s_esp32_read(), i2s_esp32_write()) already guarded the pointers, and a static audit found no equivalent unguarded path.\n\nThe driver defect is older than the affected range. The unguarded dereference is present from v4.2.0 (reached through i2s_esp32_trigger_stream(), whose if (stream) guard tests the address of a struct member and is never false) and takes its present i2s_esp32_trigger_check() form in v4.3.0. No in-tree Espressif configuration before v4.4.0 can run a user-mode thread, so in v4.2.x and v4.3.x the direction argument can only come from trusted kernel code. Those releases carry the bug but are not listed as affected; the fix has also been merged to v4.3-branch as hardening."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 5.5,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
            "version": "3.1"
          },
          "format": "CVSS"
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      "problemTypes": [
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          "descriptions": [
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              "cweId": "CWE-476",
              "description": "memory-safety",
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              "type": "CWE"
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      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-11T17:15:01.878Z",
        "orgId": "e2e69745-5e70-4e92-8431-deb5529a81ad",
        "shortName": "zephyr"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "name": "Fix commit",
          "tags": [
            "patch"
          ],
          "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/0d82dbbe72f154de32cc45021a9f59d9a737246b"
        },
        {
          "name": "GHSA-5g9q-h8wq-rrf3",
          "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-5g9q-h8wq-rrf3"
        }
      ],
      "title": "NULL pointer dereference in the ESP32 I2S driver when triggering an unsupported direction",
      "x_generator": {
        "engine": "cvelib 1.8.0"
      }
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "e2e69745-5e70-4e92-8431-deb5529a81ad",
    "assignerShortName": "zephyr",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-19737",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-11T17:15:01.878Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-13T13:46:28.028Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-11T17:15:01.878Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2",
  "vulnerability-lookup:meta": {
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                "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
                "packageName": "zephyr",
                "product": "zephyr",
                "programFiles": [
                  "drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c"
                ],
                "programRoutines": [
                  {
                    "name": "i2s_esp32_trigger"
                  },
                  {
                    "name": "i2s_esp32_trigger_check"
                  }
                ],
                "vendor": "zephyrproject",
                "versions": [
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                    "lessThan": "4.5.0",
                    "status": "affected",
                    "version": "4.4.0",
                    "versionType": "semver"
                  }
                ]
              }
            ],
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org"
          }
        ],
        "cveTags": [],
        "descriptions": [
          {
            "lang": "en",
            "value": "i2s_esp32_trigger_check() in drivers/i2s/i2s_esp32.c validates the requested direction only for I2S_DIR_BOTH. The I2S_DIR_RX and I2S_DIR_TX branches read dev_cfg-\u003erx.data-\u003econfigured / dev_cfg-\u003etx.data-\u003econfigured without first checking the stream pointers. The device instantiation macro I2S_ESP32_STREAM_INIT() sets both .conf and .data to NULL for a direction the devicetree does not describe, so on an instance that wires only one direction \u2014 the normal shape for audio output or a worldsemi,ws2812-i2s LED strip \u2014 the other direction dereferences a NULL pointer instead of returning an error.\n\ni2s_trigger() is a Zephyr syscall, and z_vrfy_i2s_trigger() in drivers/i2s/i2s_handlers.c validates only the device object and the presence of the trigger API pointer; the dir argument is passed to the driver unvalidated. On a build with CONFIG_USERSPACE enabled, a user-mode thread that has been granted the I2S device can issue a single i2s_trigger() call naming the unwired direction and cause a load from address 0 in kernel mode. Among the Espressif parts that carry this driver, userspace is available in-tree only on RISC-V SoCs with CONFIG_RISCV_PMP, and v4.4.0 is the first release where that is buildable: the ESP32-C6 HPCORE selects RISCV_PMP when it is not built for MCUboot. ESP32-C5 in v4.4.x carries the same PMP-region and userspace linker support but does not select RISCV_PMP by default. Espressif Xtensa targets do not support Zephyr userspace, and in a non-userspace build the bad direction can only come from in-kernel application code.\n\nThe impact is limited to availability: the access is a read at offset 0 of the missing stream structure, so there is no attacker-controlled offset, no write primitive and no information disclosure. With the default fatal-error handler the resulting exception halts the system, giving an unprivileged user-mode thread a system-wide denial of service. The fix adds the same pointer check the I2S_DIR_BOTH branch already performed and returns -ENOSYS for a direction the instance does not implement; the driver\u0027s other entry points (i2s_esp32_config_check(), i2s_esp32_config_get(), i2s_esp32_read(), i2s_esp32_write()) already guarded the pointers, and a static audit found no equivalent unguarded path.\n\nThe driver defect is older than the affected range. The unguarded dereference is present from v4.2.0 (reached through i2s_esp32_trigger_stream(), whose if (stream) guard tests the address of a struct member and is never false) and takes its present i2s_esp32_trigger_check() form in v4.3.0. No in-tree Espressif configuration before v4.4.0 can run a user-mode thread, so in v4.2.x and v4.3.x the direction argument can only come from trusted kernel code. Those releases carry the bug but are not listed as affected; the fix has also been merged to v4.3-branch as hardening."
          }
        ],
        "id": "CVE-2026-19737",
        "lastModified": "2026-10-11T18:16:58.930",
        "metrics": {
          "cvssMetricV31": [
            {
              "cvssData": {
                "attackComplexity": "LOW",
                "attackVector": "LOCAL",
                "availabilityImpact": "HIGH",
                "baseScore": 5.5,
                "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
                "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
                "integrityImpact": "NONE",
                "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
                "scope": "UNCHANGED",
                "userInteraction": "NONE",
                "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H",
                "version": "3.1"
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              "impactScore": 3.6,
              "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
              "type": "Secondary"
            }
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        "published": "2026-10-11T18:16:58.930",
        "references": [
          {
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
            "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/0d82dbbe72f154de32cc45021a9f59d9a737246b"
          },
          {
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
            "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-5g9q-h8wq-rrf3"
          }
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        "sourceIdentifier": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
        "vulnStatus": "Received",
        "weaknesses": [
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            "description": [
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                "lang": "en",
                "value": "CWE-476"
              }
            ],
            "source": "vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org",
            "type": "Secondary"
          }
        ]
      }
    }
  }
}



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