CVE-2026-14696

Adjacent denial of service via RX packet leak

Published Aug 31, 2026 · Updated Sep 1, 2026

Memory leak in Zephyr RTOS 4.4.0 through 4.4.1 allows attackers to interrupt network reception via broadcast or multicast Ethernet frames. eth_bridge_input_process() returns NET_OK after local bridge delivery without consuming the packet, causing processing_data() to retain each RX net_pkt. Exploitation requires access to the bridged L2 segment and an affected bridge configuration; pool exhaustion persists until the device is rebooted.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.20%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Memory leak in Zephyr RTOS 4.4.0 through 4.4.1 allows attackers to interrupt network reception via broadcast or multicast Ethernet frames. eth_bridge_input_process() returns NET_OK after local bridge delivery without consuming the packet, causing processing_data() to retain each RX net_pkt. Exploitation requires access to the bridged L2 segment and an affected bridge configuration; pool exhaustion persists until the device is rebooted.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-14696
Published
Aug 31, 2026
Updated
Sep 1, 2026
Vendor
Zephyr Project
Product
Zephyr RTOS
Classifications
CWE-401, T1499
Attack vector
adjacent
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 31, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Sep 1, 2026Record 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=4.4.0 <4.4.2

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectoradjacent
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Zephyr Project · Zephyr RTOSversion=4.4.0 <4.4.2

Published CVSS scores

6.5Zephyr ProjectCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

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.

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No observations available

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

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-401Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime
T1499Endpoint Denial of Service

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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