Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain control of boot medium (USB/SD/TFTP)
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DeliverySupply crafted EFI PE binary
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ExploitTrigger 32-bit integer overflow in size computation
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ExecutionForce undersized heap allocation
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PersistOverrun buffer via unbounded section copy
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ImpactExecute code in bootloader context
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Integer overflow checks
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | The attacker must be able to deliver a malicious EFI PE binary to a barebox instance (< 2026.04.0) that then parses it through the EFI PE loader in efi/loader/pe.c - specifically via one of the named channels: a TFTP server used for network/PXE boot, a USB device, an SD card, or a network boot flow. The device must actually invoke the EFI PE loader on the attacker-supplied image. Limiting factors: exploitation is local (AV:L) - it requires physical access to the boot media or control of the boot network/TFTP source, not arbitrary remote access; the target must be configured to load EFI PE images from an untrusted source, and secure/verified boot that rejects unsigned binaries would block the untrusted image before parsing. No authentication is required once the attacker can supply the image (PR:N). |
| Impact | Signals are broadly consistent and point to a serious-impact but hard-to-reach issue rather than a mass-exploitation event. The CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H, score 8.6) reflects full compromise of the vulnerable system with no privileges, but critically AV:L means the attacker needs local access or control of the boot medium/path - not remote internet exploitation. This aligns with CISA SSVC, which rates Exploitation 'none', Automatable 'no', and Technical Impact 'total': high consequence if triggered, but not scalable or currently exploited. EPSS is 0.01% (2nd percentile), and there is no CISA KEV listing and no identified public exploit, so this is not an active-exploitation priority. One note of caution: the description lists TFTP and network boot as delivery vectors, which could imply an adjacent/network path, yet the assigned vector is AV:L - verify the exact reachable configuration with the vendor/VulnCheck advisory before ruling out network exposure. Net: patch promptly on affected embedded fleets, but this is a defense-in-depth fix, not an emergency drop-everything item for most environments. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker with control of a device's boot medium - a crafted USB stick, SD card, or a rogue/compromised TFTP server used for network boot - supplies a malicious EFI PE binary. When barebox's EFI PE loader parses it, the 32-bit size computation overflows and allocates an undersized heap buffer, and the section copy then writes past it, corrupting heap memory and potentially yielding code execution in bootloader context. No public exploit is currently identified, and the local attack vector plus need to reach the EFI loader path makes this an opportunistic/physical-access or trusted-network scenario rather than remote mass exploitation. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jul 23, 2026
Memory corruption in the barebox bootloader's EFI PE loader (efi/loader/pe.c) affects all versions prior to 2026.04.0, allowing an attacker who can supply a malicious EFI PE binary to trigger a heap buffer overflow or heap out-of-bounds read and potentially execute code in bootloader context. The flaw stems from a 32-bit integer overflow when computing the virtual image size and from missing bounds validation during PE section copy. No public exploit identified at time of analysis and EPSS is very low (0.01%, 2nd percentile), consistent with CISA SSVC rating exploitation as 'none', though the technical impact is rated total. Reported by VulnCheck; a vendor patch is available.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: 2026.04.0 - upgrade barebox to v2026.04.0 or later, available at https://github.com/barebox/barebox/releases/tag/v2026.04.0 (see the migration guide at https://barebox.org/doc/latest/migration-guides/migration-2026.04.0.html). Where an immediate rebuild is not possible, apply compensating controls: disable or do not use the EFI PE loader / EFI boot path if the platform does not require chainloading EFI images; restrict the boot sources the device will accept - disable network/TFTP boot and PXE where not needed (trade-off: breaks netboot-based provisioning and development workflows), and physically secure or lock down USB and SD boot media so an attacker cannot substitute a crafted EFI PE binary (trade-off: complicates field servicing). Enabling verified/secure boot to reject unsigned EFI images also reduces exposure by ensuring only trusted binaries reach the loader. The maintainer explicitly notes barebox networking is intended as a development feature and should not be used in production, which itself is a meaningful control for exposed fleets.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
barebox is a bootloader for embedded systems (maintained by Pengutronix, U-Boot's spiritual successor) that can load and execute UEFI/EFI PE (Portable Executable) images. The vulnerability lives in its EFI PE loader, efi/loader/pe.c. The root cause is CWE-190 (Integer Overflow): the loader computes the total virtual image size by summing each section's VirtualAddress and virtual size using 32-bit arithmetic, which can wrap around and produce a value smaller than the real image, leading to an undersized heap allocation. Compounding this, the section-loading logic copies each section from the file using PointerToRawData plus a copied length without validating that this range stays within the bounds of the loaded PE file buffer. Together these produce a heap buffer overflow on write (overrunning the too-small allocation) and an out-of-bounds read from heap memory.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Attacker needs local control of boot media/path (AV:L) but no auth (PR:N) or interaction; memory corruption in bootloader yields full C/I/A within the same component (S:U).
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
barebox version prior to 2026.04.0 contains multiple memory-safety vulnerabilities in the EFI PE loader in efi/loader/pe.c where integer overflow in virtual image size computation using 32-bit arithmetic on section VirtualAddress and size values allows undersized heap allocation, and PE section loading logic fails to validate that PointerToRawData plus copied size remains within the PE file buffer. An attacker can supply a malicious EFI PE binary via TFTP, USB, SD card, or network boot to trigger heap buffer overflow or out-of-bounds read from heap memory, potentially achieving code execution in bootloader context.
Executive ViewAI
A memory corruption vulnerability in barebox bootloader's EFI PE loader affects all versions prior to 2026.04.0, allowing potential code execution at the bootloader level. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, though the vendor has released a patch; organizations must prioritize updating to maintain firmware boot integrity.
Apply vendor patch.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.
Integer overflow occurs when an arithmetic operation produces a result that exceeds the maximum value a given integer type can store.
Remote Code Execution represents the critical moment when an attacker successfully runs arbitrary code on a target system without physical access.
common/password.c in Pengutronix barebox through 2021.07.0 leaks timing information because strncmp is used during hash
crypto/digest.c in Pengutronix barebox through 2021.07.0 leaks timing information because memcmp is used during digest v
Pengutronix barebox through 2019.08.1 has a remote buffer overflow in nfs_readlink_req in fs/nfs.c because a length fiel
Pengutronix barebox through 2019.08.1 has a remote buffer overflow in nfs_readlink_reply in net/nfs.c because a length f
Pengutronix Barebox through v2020.05.0 has an out-of-bounds read in nfs_read_reply in net/nfs.c because a field of an in
A signature bypass vulnerability exists in the barebox bootloader's FIT (Flattened Image Tree) image verification mechan
Denial of service in the barebox bootloader (all versions up to and including 2026.04.0) lets an attacker on the same br
Infinite loop denial-of-service in barebox's ext4 directory parser allows an attacker who can supply a crafted filesyste
Out-of-bounds read vulnerabilities in barebox's ext4 extent parsing allow an attacker who can supply a malformed ext4 fi
EUVD-2026-29347
GHSA-qj4w-p892-c352
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB