SEPTEMBER 19, 2026
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Case File

CVE-2026-10681

MEDIUM · CVSS 6.5 EPSS 0.08% Public Exploit

Source: NVD + CISA KEV + EPSS · Published 2026-07-25 · Last synced 2026-08-24

CyberRota Analysis

AI-Generated

The vulnerability arises in Zephyr's userspace dynamic-objects subsystem, where concurrent invocations of the k_object_alloc syscall can lead to two user-mode threads being assigned the same thread permission index, compromising access control and allowing unauthorized access to kernel objects. This flaw affects any user-mode thread on SMP systems and can lead to significant security risks, particularly in environments where user-space ACL isolation is critical. Organizations utilizing Zephyr versions up to v4.4.0 with CONFIG_USERSPACE, CONFIG_DYNAMIC_OBJECTS, and CONFIG_SMP enabled should prioritize patching this vulnerability to mitigate potential exploitation.

Public Exploit Signal

A public exploit, PoC, GitHub repository or Metasploit reference was detected for this CVE.

Note: these links are listed for security research and verification purposes only.

CVE
CVE-2026-10681
Severity
MEDIUM
CVSS
6.5
EPSS
0.08%

Original NVD Description

In Zephyr's userspace dynamic-objects subsystem, thread_idx_alloc() in kernel/userspace/userspace.c allocated a new thread permission index from the global _thread_idx_map[] bitmap without holding lists_lock. On SMP systems, two user-mode threads invoking the k_object_alloc(K_OBJ_THREAD) syscall concurrently can both observe the same low free bit, perform the same non-atomic RMW to clear it, and return the identical tidx. The two newly created K_OBJ_THREAD objects are then assigned the same thread_id, so the two user threads alias a single bit position in every kernel object's perms[] bitfield: any subsequent grant of access on a kernel object to one thread is implicitly a grant to the other, defeating userspace ACL isolation. A secondary lost-update window between the unlocked &=~BIT() in alloc and the locked |= BIT() in thread_idx_free() can also leak entries from the thread-index pool. The defect is reachable from any user-mode thread via the unrestricted __syscall k_object_alloc and is gated on CONFIG_USERSPACE, CONFIG_DYNAMIC_OBJECTS, and CONFIG_SMP. The flaw was introduced when the per-thread permission index was added in 2018 and is present in every release up to and including v4.4.0. Fixed by holding lists_lock across the bitmap RMW and the permissions clear (and inlining the obj_list traversal that previously took the lock itself).

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