CVE-2024-28183

Anti-rollback bypass via mutable flash TOCTOU

Published Mar 25, 2024 · Updated Aug 2, 2024

TOCTOU in the Espressif Systems ESP-IDF bootloader allows physically proximate attackers to boot an older application image. The bootloader checks an image's secure version before loading it from mutable flash, then fails to verify the version again after the image is loaded. Exploitation requires changing flash contents during that interval and bypasses the eFuse-backed anti-rollback control, including with flash encryption enabled.

CVSS severity6.1
Medium
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

TOCTOU in the Espressif Systems ESP-IDF bootloader allows physically proximate attackers to boot an older application image. The bootloader checks an image's secure version before loading it from mutable flash, then fails to verify the version again after the image is loaded. Exploitation requires changing flash contents during that interval and bypasses the eFuse-backed anti-rollback control, including with flash encryption enabled.

The record

CVE
CVE-2024-28183
Published
Mar 25, 2024
Updated
Aug 2, 2024
Vendor
Espressif Systems
Product
ESP-IDF
Classifications
CWE-367, CAPEC-29, T1601.002
Attack vector
physical
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 25, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 2, 2024Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=< 4.4.7
  2. Affected versionversion=>= 5.0, <= 5.0.6
  3. Affected versionversion=>= 5.1, <= 5.1.3
  4. Affected versionversion=>= 5.2, < 5.2.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorphysical
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Espressif Systems · ESP-IDFversion=< 4.4.7; version=>= 5.0, <= 5.0.6; version=>= 5.1, <= 5.1.3; version=>= 5.2, < 5.2.1

Published CVSS scores

6.1GitHub, Inc.CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
5.7NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorphysical
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-367Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
CAPEC-29Leveraging Time-of-Check and Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) Race Conditions
T1601.002Downgrade System Image

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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