Vulnerabilities

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In versions 5.5.4 and 6.0, the esp_tee component exposes secure-service wrappers in esp_secure_services.c and esp_secure_services_iram.c that bridge calls from the user application (i.e. the REE) to TEE-protected hardware peripherals (AES, SHA, ECC, HMAC, SPI, MMU, WDT) and to the security feature like attestation, OTA updates, secure storage. This issue has been patched in versions 5.5.5 and 6.0.1.

arduino-esp32 is an Arduino core for the ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 microcontrollers. Prior to 3.3.8, the WebServer multipart form parser in arduino-esp32 allocates a Variable Length Array (VLA) on the stack whose size is derived from an attacker-controlled HTTP header field (Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=...) without enforcing any length limit. Sending a boundary string longer than ~8000 characters overflows the 8192-byte task stack of the loopTask, causing a crash and potential remote code execution. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.3.8.

arduino-esp32 is an Arduino core for the ESP32, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, ESP32-C3, ESP32-C6 and ESP32-H2 microcontrollers. Prior to 3.3.8, there is a remotely reachable memory corruption issue in the NBNS packet handling path. When NetBIOS is enabled by calling NBNS.begin(...), the device listens on UDP port 137 and processes untrusted NBNS requests from the local network. The request parser trusts the attacker-controlled name_len field without enforcing a bound consistent with the fixed-size destination buffers used later in the flow. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.3.8.

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In versions 5.5.2, 5.4.3, 5.3.4, 5.2.6, and 5.1.6, a vulnerability exists in the WPS (Wi-Fi Protected Setup) Enrollee implementation where malformed EAP-WSC packets with truncated payloads can cause integer underflow during fragment length calculation. When processing EAP-Expanded (WSC) messages, the code computes frag_len by subtracting header sizes from the total packet length. If an attacker sends a packet where the EAP Length field covers only the header and flags but omits the expected payload (such as the 2-byte Message Length field when WPS_MSG_FLAG_LEN is set), frag_len becomes negative. This negative value is then implicitly cast to size_t when passed to wpabuf_put_data(), resulting in a very large unsigned value. This issue has been patched in versions 5.5.3, 5.4.4, 5.3.5, 5.2.7, and 5.1.7.

Espressif ESP-IDF USB Host HID (Human Interface Device) Driver allows access to HID devices. Prior to 1.1.0, usb_class_request_get_descriptor() frees and reallocates hid_device->ctrl_xfer when an oversized descriptor is requested but continues to use the stale local pointer, leading to an immediate use-after-free when processing attacker-controlled Report Descriptor lengths. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.1.0.

Espressif ESP-IDF USB Host UVC Class Driver allows video streaming from USB cameras. Prior to 2.4.0, a vulnerability in the esp-usb UVC host implementation allows a malicious USB Video Class (UVC) device to trigger a stack buffer overflow during configuration-descriptor parsing. When UVC configuration-descriptor printing is enabled, the host prints detailed descriptor information provided by the connected USB device. A specially crafted UVC descriptor may advertise an excessively large length. Because this value is not validated before being copied into a fixed-size stack buffer, an attacker can overflow the buffer and corrupt memory. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.4.0.

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In versions 5.5.1, 5.4.3, 5.3.4, 5.2.6, 5.1.6, and earlier, in the avrc_vendor_msg() function of the ESP-IDF BlueDroid AVRCP stack, the allocated buffer size was validated using AVRC_MIN_CMD_LEN (20 bytes). However, the actual fixed header data written before the vendor payload exceeds this value. This totals 29 bytes written before p_msg->p_vendor_data is copied. Using the old AVRC_MIN_CMD_LEN could allow an out-of-bounds write if vendor_len approaches the buffer limit. For commands where vendor_len is large, the original buffer allocation may be insufficient, causing writes beyond the allocated memory. This can lead to memory corruption, crashes, or other undefined behavior. The overflow could be larger when assertions are disabled.

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. In 5.5.1, 5.4.3, 5.3.4, 5.2.6, 5.1.6, and earlier, when AVRCP is enabled on ESP32, receiving a malformed VENDOR DEPENDENT command from a peer device can cause the Bluetooth stack to access memory before validating the command buffer length. This may lead to an out-of-bounds read, potentially exposing unintended memory content or causing unexpected behavior.

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. The BluFi example bundled in ESP-IDF was vulnerable to memory overflows in two areas: Wi-Fi credential handling and Diffie–Hellman key exchange. This vulnerability is fixed in 5.4.1, 5.3.3, 5.1.6, and 5.0.9.

ESF-IDF is the Espressif Internet of Things (IOT) Development Framework. An integer underflow vulnerability has been identified in the ESP-NOW protocol implementation within the ESP Wi-Fi component of versions 5.4.1, 5.3.3, 5.2.5, and 5.1.6 of the ESP-IDF framework. This issue stems from insufficient validation of user-supplied data length in the packet receive function. Under certain conditions, this may lead to out-of-bounds memory access and may allow arbitrary memory write operations. On systems without a memory protection scheme, this behavior could potentially be used to achieve remote code execution (RCE) on the target device. In versions 5.4.2, 5.3.4, 5.2.6, and 5.1.6, ESP-NOW has added more comprehensive validation logic on user-supplied data length during packet reception to prevent integer underflow caused by negative value calculations. For ESP-IDF v5.3 and earlier, a workaround can be applied by validating that the `data_len` parameter received in the RX callback (registered via `esp_now_register_recv_cb()`) is a positive value before further processing. For ESP-IDF v5.4 and later, no application-level workaround is available. Users are advised to upgrade to a patched version of ESP-IDF to take advantage of the built-in mitigation.

Espressif Esp idf v5.3.0 is vulnerable to Insecure Permissions resulting in Authentication bypass. In the reconnection phase, the device reuses the session key from a previous connection session, creating an opportunity for attackers to execute security bypass attacks.

Espressif ESP32 chips allow 29 hidden HCI commands, such as 0xFC02 (Write memory).

An issue in Espressif Esp idf v5.3.0 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted data channel packet.

Buffer Overflow vulnerability in esp-idf v.5.1 allows a remote attacker to obtain sensitive information via the externalId component.

ESP-NOW Component provides a connectionless Wi-Fi communication protocol. An replay attacks vulnerability was discovered in the implementation of the ESP-NOW because the caches is not differentiated by message types, it is a single, shared resource for all kinds of messages, whether they are broadcast or unicast, and regardless of whether they are ciphertext or plaintext. This can result an attacker to clear the cache of its legitimate entries, there by creating an opportunity to re-inject previously captured packets. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.5.2.

Buffer Overflow vulnerability in esp-idf v.5.1 allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code via a crafted script to the Bluetooth stack component.

ESP-IDF is the development framework for Espressif SoCs supported on Windows, Linux and macOS. A Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability was discovered in the implementation of the ESP-IDF bootloader which could allow an attacker with physical access to flash of the device to bypass anti-rollback protection. Anti-rollback prevents rollback to application with security version lower than one programmed in eFuse of chip. This attack can allow to boot past (passive) application partition having lower security version of the same device even in the presence of the flash encryption scheme. The attack requires carefully modifying the flash contents after the anti-rollback checks have been performed by the bootloader (before loading the application). The vulnerability is fixed in 4.4.7 and 5.2.1.

An issue discovered in esptool 4.6.2 allows attackers to view sensitive information via weak cryptographic algorithm.

An issue was discovered on Espressif ESP32 3.0 (ESP32_rev300 ROM) devices. An EMFI attack on ECO3 provides the attacker with a capability to influence the PC value at the CPU context level, regardless of Secure Boot and Flash Encryption status. By using this capability, the attacker can exploit another behavior in the chip to gain unauthorized access to the ROM download mode. Access to ROM download mode may be further exploited to read the encrypted flash content in cleartext format or execute stub code.

ESP-IDF is the official development framework for Espressif SoCs. In Espressif’s Bluetooth Mesh SDK (`ESP-BLE-MESH`), a memory corruption vulnerability can be triggered during provisioning, because there is no check for the `SegN` field of the Transaction Start PDU. This can result in memory corruption related attacks and potentially attacker gaining control of the entire system. Patch commits are available on the 4.1, 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 branches and users are recommended to upgrade. The upgrade is applicable for all applications and users of `ESP-BLE-MESH` component from `ESP-IDF`. As it is implemented in the Bluetooth Mesh stack, there is no workaround for the user to fix the application layer without upgrading the underlying firmware.

The Bluetooth Classic implementation in Espressif ESP-IDF 4.4 and earlier does not properly restrict the Feature Page upon reception of an LMP Feature Response Extended packet, allowing attackers in radio range to trigger arbitrary code execution in ESP32 via a crafted Extended Features bitfield payload.

An attacker can cause a Denial of Service and kernel panic in v4.2 and earlier versions of Espressif esp32 via a malformed beacon csa frame. The device requires a reboot to recover.

Espressif ESP-IDF 2.x, 3.0.x through 3.0.9, 3.1.x through 3.1.7, 3.2.x through 3.2.3, 3.3.x through 3.3.2, and 4.0.x through 4.0.1 has a Buffer Overflow in BluFi provisioning in btc_blufi_recv_handler function in blufi_prf.c. An attacker can send a crafted BluFi protocol Write Attribute command to characteristic 0xFF01. With manipulated packet fields, there is a buffer overflow.

The Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) controller implementation in Espressif ESP-IDF 4.0 through 4.2 (for ESP32 devices) returns the wrong number of completed BLE packets and triggers a reachable assertion on the host stack when receiving a packet with an MIC failure. An attacker within radio range can silently trigger the assertion (which disables the target's BLE stack) by sending a crafted sequence of BLE packets.

An encryption-bypass issue was discovered on Espressif ESP-IDF devices through 4.2, ESP8266_NONOS_SDK devices through 3.0.3, and ESP8266_RTOS_SDK devices through 3.3. Broadcasting forged beacon frames forces a device to change its authentication mode to OPEN, effectively disabling its 802.11 encryption.

An issue was discovered in the Espressif ESP32 mask ROM code 2016-06-08 0 through 2. Lack of anti-glitch mitigations in the first stage bootloader of the ESP32 chip allows an attacker (with physical access to the device) to read the contents of read-protected eFuses, such as flash encryption and secure boot keys, by injecting a glitch into the power supply of the chip shortly after reset.

An issue was discovered in Espressif ESP-IDF 2.x, 3.0.x through 3.0.9, 3.1.x through 3.1.6, 3.2.x through 3.2.3, and 3.3.x through 3.3.1. An attacker who uses fault injection to physically disrupt the ESP32 CPU can bypass the Secure Boot digest verification at startup, and boot unverified code from flash. The fault injection attack does not disable the Flash Encryption feature, so if the ESP32 is configured with the recommended combination of Secure Boot and Flash Encryption, then the impact is minimized. If the ESP32 is configured without Flash Encryption then successful fault injection allows arbitrary code execution. To protect devices with Flash Encryption and Secure Boot enabled against this attack, a firmware change must be made to permanently enable Flash Encryption in the field if it is not already permanently enabled.

The EAP peer implementation in Espressif ESP-IDF 2.0.0 through 4.0.0 and ESP8266_NONOS_SDK 2.2.0 through 3.1.0 processes EAP Success messages before any EAP method completion or failure, which allows attackers in radio range to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted message.

The client 802.11 mac implementation in Espressif ESP8266_NONOS_SDK 2.2.0 through 3.1.0 does not validate correctly the RSN AuthKey suite list count in beacon frames, probe responses, and association responses, which allows attackers in radio range to cause a denial of service (crash) via a crafted message.

The EAP peer implementation in Espressif ESP-IDF 2.0.0 through 4.0.0 and ESP8266_NONOS_SDK 2.2.0 through 3.1.0 allows the installation of a zero Pairwise Master Key (PMK) after the completion of any EAP authentication method, which allows attackers in radio range to replay, decrypt, or spoof frames via a rogue access point.

An issue was discovered in Espressif ESP-IDF 2.x and 3.x before 3.0.6 and 3.1.x before 3.1.1. Insufficient validation of input data in the 2nd stage bootloader allows a physically proximate attacker to bypass secure boot checks and execute arbitrary code, by crafting an application binary that overwrites a bootloader code segment in process_segment in components/bootloader_support/src/esp_image_format.c. The attack is effective when the flash encryption feature is not enabled, or if the attacker finds a different vulnerability that allows them to write this binary to flash memory.