Public vulnerability disclosure

CVE-2026-15923

Infinite loop denial of service in Zephyr SDIO byte-I/O from a card-supplied zero max_blk_size

publishedCWE-835

The Zephyr SDIO subsystem function sdio_io_rw_extended_helper() in subsys/sd/sdio.c finishes transfers with a byte-I/O loop that uses size = MIN(remaining, func->cis.max_blk_size) as the per-iteration step. The value func->cis.max_blk_size is decoded directly from the SDIO card's CIS FUNCE tuple in sdio_decode_cis() and is not validated. When a card reports a maximum block size of zero, size is always 0, remaining never decreases, and the loop spins forever. The loop is reached from the public SDIO client API used by drivers, including sdio_read_fifo(), sdio_write_fifo(), and the incrementing register read/write helpers, each of which enters the loop while holding the per-card mutex func->card->lock. A card advertising max_blk_size == 0 therefore hangs the calling thread permanently on its first non-block-aligned transfer and never releases the mutex, denying service to the SDIO peripheral (and any subsystem such as Wi-Fi that depends on it) until the device is reset. The malicious value must come from the SDIO card itself, so the defect is exploitable where a removable SDIO/combo card slot lets an attacker insert a crafted or malfunctioning card (a physical attack vector); on boards with a soldered SDIO peripheral it is not attacker-influenceable. There is no memory-safety, confidentiality, or integrity impact — only a permanent availability loss. The fix returns -EIO when func->cis.max_blk_size is zero, before the loop is entered.

Technical severity4.6 mediumCVSS 3.1 · CNA: zephyr
Published2026-09-14Source updated 2026-11-04
Collected2026-11-043 attributed sources

Fixes and workarounds

Fix

The reporting source identifies this reference as a patch. Check the advisory for affected versions and supported release branches.

Source: CNA: zephyr

Affected products and versions

Affected products, source version ranges and reporting authorities
ProductVersionsAuthority
zephyr
zephyrproject
zephyr
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr
≥ 3.6.0; < 4.3.2 (affected, semver)
≥ 4.4.0; < 4.4.2 (affected, semver)
Other versions: unaffected
CNA: zephyr

Version ranges are source assertions. Check the vendor advisory and your installed configuration before determining exposure.

CVSS assessments

CVSS scores, vectors and reporting authorities
Version / scoreVectorAuthority
3.1 / 4.6
medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HCNA: zephyr
3.1 / 4.6
medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HNVD: [email protected]

Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

References

For agents and automation

Read public disclosures for free as Markdown or JSON. Compatible browsers also expose native WebMCP tools to search disclosures, read this page, and discover API access.

Use the ontology-linked Cyber API with x402 pay per request, or a Y2 Pro or Elite API key with the intel:cyber scope.

Endpoints and access details

https://api.y2.dev/api/v2/cyber/cves
https://api.y2.dev/api/v2/cyber/cves/{cveId}

A workspace owner or admin can create a Pro or Elite API key. Send Authorization: Bearer <Y2_API_KEY> from your trusted agent runtime.

For x402, omit Authorization and read the HTTP 402 payment challenge before signing a retry. Public browser tools do not make payments.

Agent access JSON · OpenAPI · CVE API guide