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CVE-2026-12520

Full vulnerability record from the local CVENow database.

Description

The Sierra Wireless HL7800 cellular modem driver (drivers/modem/vendor_standalone/hl7800.c, located at drivers/modem/hl7800.c in v4.4.0 and earlier) parses AT responses with roughly twenty handlers that call net_buf_linearize(value, sizeof(value), *buf, 0, len) into a 128-byte stack buffer and then write value[out_len] = 0. Because net_buf_linearize() (lib/net_buf/buf.c) can return a count equal to its destination-length argument, a field that exactly fills the buffer makes the terminating NUL land one byte past the end, a single-byte out-of-bounds write into adjacent stack memory. The +KCELLMEAS cell-measurement handler on_cmd_atcmdinfo_rssi() is worse: it passed the wire length len as the destination size (net_buf_linearize(value, len, *buf, 0, len)), so a response line longer than 128 bytes overflows the value stack buffer with attacker-influenceable content. The line length comes from net_buf_findcrlf(), which accumulates bytes across the whole net_buf fragment chain and is not bounded to 128, so an over-long line reaches the defect. The data originates from the cellular modem over UART, driven by the network: operator-scan results, +CGCONTRDP IP/DNS info, socket indications, and +KCELLMEAS neighbour-cell reports. An attacker able to shape what the modem emits — a rogue base station, a compromised modem baseband, or a remote peer feeding oversized response framing — can drive a line past 128 bytes. The handlers run in the driver's RX thread in kernel context, so the corruption is kernel-side. The +KCELLMEAS path is a full stack buffer overflow whose worst case is code execution in kernel context and whose floor is a reliable crash; the remaining sites are single-byte NUL out-of-bounds writes. Exploitation requires the modem to emit an over-long AT response line, giving high attack complexity over an adjacent (cellular radio) vector. The fix passes sizeof(dst) - 1 (and correct explicit bounds for the IMSI and +KCELLMEAS sites) so the terminator always stays in bounds.

Severity
MEDIUM
CVSS score
6.4 (v3.1)
Vulnerability status
Awaiting Analysis
Source identifier
Published
2026-08-18 20:17:11.660000
Last modified
2026-11-04 05:18:39.630000
View original CVE JSON
{
  "id": "CVE-2026-12520",
  "sourceIdentifier": "[email protected]",
  "published": "2026-08-18T20:17:11.660",
  "lastModified": "2026-11-04T05:18:39.630",
  "vulnStatus": "Awaiting Analysis",
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "The Sierra Wireless HL7800 cellular modem driver (drivers/modem/vendor_standalone/hl7800.c, located at drivers/modem/hl7800.c in v4.4.0 and earlier) parses AT responses with roughly twenty handlers that call net_buf_linearize(value, sizeof(value), *buf, 0, len) into a 128-byte stack buffer and then write value[out_len] = 0. Because net_buf_linearize() (lib/net_buf/buf.c) can return a count equal to its destination-length argument, a field that exactly fills the buffer makes the terminating NUL land one byte past the end, a single-byte out-of-bounds write into adjacent stack memory.\n\nThe +KCELLMEAS cell-measurement handler on_cmd_atcmdinfo_rssi() is worse: it passed the wire length len as the destination size (net_buf_linearize(value, len, *buf, 0, len)), so a response line longer than 128 bytes overflows the value stack buffer with attacker-influenceable content. The line length comes from net_buf_findcrlf(), which accumulates bytes across the whole net_buf fragment chain and is not bounded to 128, so an over-long line reaches the defect.\n\nThe data originates from the cellular modem over UART, driven by the network: operator-scan results, +CGCONTRDP IP/DNS info, socket indications, and +KCELLMEAS neighbour-cell reports. An attacker able to shape what the modem emits — a rogue base station, a compromised modem baseband, or a remote peer feeding oversized response framing — can drive a line past 128 bytes. The handlers run in the driver's RX thread in kernel context, so the corruption is kernel-side.\n\nThe +KCELLMEAS path is a full stack buffer overflow whose worst case is code execution in kernel context and whose floor is a reliable crash; the remaining sites are single-byte NUL out-of-bounds writes. Exploitation requires the modem to emit an over-long AT response line, giving high attack complexity over an adjacent (cellular radio) vector. The fix passes sizeof(dst) - 1 (and correct explicit bounds for the IMSI and +KCELLMEAS sites) so the terminator always stays in bounds."
    }
  ],
  "affected": [
    {
      "source": "[email protected]",
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "vendor": "zephyrproject",
          "product": "zephyr",
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "collectionURL": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr",
          "packageName": "zephyr",
          "programFiles": [
            "drivers/modem/vendor_standalone/hl7800.c"
          ],
          "versions": [
            {
              "version": "2.4.0",
              "lessThan": "4.3.2",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            },
            {
              "version": "4.4.0",
              "lessThan": "4.4.2",
              "versionType": "semver",
              "status": "affected"
            }
          ]
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "source": "[email protected]",
        "type": "Secondary",
        "cvssData": {
          "version": "3.1",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H",
          "baseScore": 6.4,
          "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
          "attackVector": "ADJACENT_NETWORK",
          "attackComplexity": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "NONE",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "confidentialityImpact": "LOW",
          "integrityImpact": "LOW",
          "availabilityImpact": "HIGH"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 1.6,
        "impactScore": 4.7
      }
    ],
    "ssvcV203": [
      {
        "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
        "ssvcData": {
          "timestamp": "2026-08-19T13:08:28.141064Z",
          "id": "CVE-2026-12520",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "no"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "partial"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "source": "[email protected]",
      "type": "Secondary",
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-787"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "references": [
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/ea91f9375677aa4268e4044e096902dbe789f101",
      "source": "[email protected]"
    },
    {
      "url": "https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-9xc4-j5x8-v6jx",
      "source": "[email protected]"
    }
  ]
}