Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain high-privilege code execution on HPS
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DeliveryInvoke Trusted Firmware service interface
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ExploitSupply input triggering miscalculated buffer size
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ExecutionOverflow buffer in secure monitor
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PersistCorrupt/crash secure-world firmware state
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ImpactEscalate trust or deny availability
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Buffer size calculation
|
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires local access (AV:L) to an Altera/Intel FPGA SoC running Trusted Firmware on the Hard Processor System, with the attacker already holding high privileges (PR:H) - i.e. privileged normal-world code execution able to reach the firmware's service interface. No user interaction is required (UI:N). Exploitation is limited to devices running the affected TF-A branch through socfpga_v2.14.0; it is not remotely reachable and not triggerable by an unprivileged user, which substantially constrains real-world exposure to post-compromise privilege/trust escalation on the specific embedded hardware. |
| Impact | This is a locally-exploitable, high-privilege memory-safety flaw (CWE-131 incorrect buffer-size calculation) in Altera Trusted Firmware (ARM TF-A) running on the Hard Processor System of socfpga FPGA SoCs. The vendor CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N) rates it 8.3 (High), driven not by the base vulnerable-system impact (VC:L/VI:H/VA:H) but by high subsequent-system integrity and availability (SC:L/SI:H/SA:H) - indicating the overflow can cross a privilege/trust boundary from an already-privileged normal-world context into the secure firmware, which is the core danger of a TF-A bug. The AV:L requires the attacker to already be executing on the device with high privileges (PR:H), which strongly limits opportunistic mass exploitation and points to a local escalation-of-trust primitive rather than a remote worm. No EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public POC are present in the provided data, so there is no signal of active or automatable exploitation. Net assessment: a genuinely serious flaw within its trust model (secure-monitor integrity/availability), but real-world urgency is bounded by the local + high-privilege prerequisites and the niche embedded footprint; treat as a firmware-patch priority for affected Altera/Intel FPGA-SoC deployments rather than an internet-facing emergency. Note: no separate NVD-provided CVSS 3.1 vector was supplied - only the vendor 4.0 vector - so cross-framework comparison is limited to the vendor data. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already has high-privilege code execution on the FPGA SoC's normal-world OS (e.g. a compromised privileged process or a malicious kernel-level component) invokes a firmware service and supplies input that triggers the miscalculated buffer size in Trusted Firmware, overflowing a buffer inside the secure monitor. This corrupts secure-world state to tamper with or crash trusted firmware, escalating from the already-privileged normal world into the secure boundary. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, and the local, high-privilege prerequisites make this a targeted post-compromise escalation rather than a drive-by attack. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 24, 2026
Buffer overflow in Altera Trusted Firmware (ARM Trusted Firmware-A) running on the Hard Processor System (HPS) of socfpga FPGA SoCs lets a locally-positioned attacker who already holds high privileges corrupt firmware memory through an incorrectly calculated buffer size. All Trusted Firmware releases up to and including the socfpga_v2.14.0 branch are affected, and exploitation requires local access combined with high-privileged normal-world code execution capable of reaching the firmware's service interface - the flaw is not remotely reachable and cannot be triggered by an unprivileged user. There is no confirmed active exploitation and no public exploit identified at time of analysis; the assessed risk is primarily post-compromise privilege and trust escalation on the specific embedded hardware, with real-world exposure constrained by the local, high-privilege prerequisite.
RemediationAI
Apply the fix identified in Altera security advisory ASA-0006 (https://www.altera.com/product-security/advisory/asa-0006); because the available data does not state a patched tag, treat any Trusted Firmware build pulled from the socfpga_v2.14.0 branch or earlier as unpatched and rebuild the HPS boot chain from the corrected Altera release once published, then re-sign and re-flash the boot image - note this requires a full device reflash and, on devices with secure boot fuses blown, a re-provisioning step that cannot be done in the field on locked parts. Until that build is available, the practical compensating controls follow directly from the access prerequisite: keep the flaw unreachable by ensuring only trusted, integrity-protected normal-world software (signed kernel/hypervisor images, enforced secure boot, and locked JTAG/debug interfaces) can issue calls into the secure monitor, since any attacker who can already execute high-privileged code on the application processor can reach the vulnerable service interface - tightening this does not remove the flaw but raises the cost of the pre-condition. Disabling or restricting debug and trace access to the HPS (fuse-based JTAG lockout) additionally removes a common route to obtaining the privileged foothold the bug requires, at the trade-off of making field debugging and failure analysis harder. Because the issue cannot be triggered remotely or by an unprivileged user, network-layer controls such as firewalling or segmentation will not mitigate it and should not be counted as such.
Affected VersionsENISA
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The vulnerability is an instance of CWE-131 (Incorrect Calculation of Buffer Size) in Altera's downstream branch of ARM Trusted Firmware-A (TF-A), the reference implementation of the secure-world firmware that executes at the highest exception level (EL3) on the Hard Processor System of Altera/Intel socfpga SoC FPGA devices (e.g. Cyclone V/Arria V/Arria 10 and Agilex-class parts). TF-A's BL1/BL2/BL31 components on the HPS expose a service interface - typically via SMC/HVC calls and secure monitor handlers - that privileged normal-world (Linux or hypervisor) software can invoke. The root-cause class means a length, count, or size computation overflows or otherwise miscomputes the destination capacity, so a subsequent copy writes past the end of a secure-world buffer. Because the CPE string cpe:2.3:a:altera:trusted_firmware:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* carries an unbounded version wildcard and the description states the issue affects Trusted Firmware through socfpga_v2.14.0, every release on that branch up to the stated tag is in scope. The CVSS 4.0 metrics VC:L/VI:H/VA:H and, critically, SC:L/SI:H/SA:H indicate that while confidentiality loss in the vulnerable component is limited, integrity and availability impacts are high and cross a security boundary - consistent with the rated scope-change (S:C) in the independent CVSS 3.1 assessment, meaning a compromise of the secure-world buffer can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component itself.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:H/UI:N/VC:L/VI:H/VA:H/SC:L/SI:H/SA:H
Local, already-high-privilege trigger (AV:L/PR:H); overflow in the secure monitor crosses the trust boundary (S:C) with high integrity/availability impact on secure firmware and low confidentiality.
Primary rating from Vendor (Altera).
CVSS VectorVendor: Altera
DescriptionCVE.org
Incorrect calculation of buffer size vulnerability in Altera Trusted Firmware on HPS allows Overflow Buffers.
This issue affects Trusted Firmware: through socfpga_v2.14.0.
Technical POC Analysis
Evidence caveat, stated up front: the only supplied source is a CTI summary gist that names this CVE in a one-line list of the day's notable flaws.
Full technical POC analysis - root cause, step-by-step exploitation and patch breakdown - is part of the Pro and Business plans.
Latest POC
1 public PoC link from github
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Executive ViewAI
A memory-corruption flaw in Altera Trusted Firmware running on the Hard Processor System of socfpga FPGA SoCs could allow an attacker who has already gained high-privilege code execution on the device to subvert the firmware's trusted boundary. Because the flaw is only reachable from local, already-privileged code, it is not a remote or mass-exploitation risk, but it materially weakens the security foundation of affected embedded hardware. Leadership should care because this affects the root of trust on fielded FPGA platforms, and every Trusted Firmware release up to and including the socfpga_v2.14.0 branch is impacted with no vendor patch currently available.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: restrict local and physical access to affected socfpga hardware, minimize the set of high-privilege normal-world workloads permitted to reach the firmware service interface, disable or lock down debug interfaces such as JTAG and UART, and monitor for anomalous firmware memory or trust-boundary behavior until a vendor fix is available.
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.
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EUVD-2026-85923
GHSA-h785-rv9q-vrg6
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB