CVE-2025-11617
📋 TL;DR
A missing validation check in FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP's IPv6 packet processing allows out-of-bounds reads when receiving IPv6 packets with incorrect payload lengths. This vulnerability affects all applications using FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP with IPv6 enabled, potentially exposing embedded IoT devices and systems to information disclosure or denial of service.
💻 Affected Systems
- FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Information disclosure through memory leaks leading to sensitive data exposure, or denial of service causing device/system crashes.
Likely Case
Denial of service through system instability or crashes when processing malformed IPv6 packets.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper network segmentation and input validation, potentially causing minor performance degradation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending specially crafted IPv6 packets to vulnerable systems, but no public exploit code is available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: V4.3.4
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/FreeRTOS/FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP/security/advisories/GHSA-wmjr-wm93-cvv2
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Download FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP V4.3.4 from GitHub releases. 2. Replace existing FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP source files with patched version. 3. Recompile and redeploy your application. 4. Verify IPv6 packet processing works correctly.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable IPv6
allTemporarily disable IPv6 support in FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP configuration if IPv6 is not required.
Set ipconfigUSE_IPv6 to 0 in FreeRTOSIPConfig.h
Network Filtering
allImplement network filtering to block malformed IPv6 packets at perimeter devices.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate vulnerable devices from untrusted networks.
- Deploy intrusion detection/prevention systems to monitor for malformed IPv6 packet patterns.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP version in your source code or build configuration. If using version before V4.3.4 with IPv6 enabled, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
Check FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP version in source files or build logs; no single command available as it's embedded source code.Verify Fix Applied:
Verify the FreeRTOS-Plus-TCP version is V4.3.4 or later in your codebase and that IPv6 packet processing functions include proper length validation.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- System crashes or restarts when processing IPv6 traffic
- Memory access violation logs in debug output
- Unusual IPv6 packet processing errors
Network Indicators:
- Malformed IPv6 packets with incorrect payload length fields
- Unusual IPv6 traffic patterns to embedded devices
SIEM Query:
Search for: 'FreeRTOS crash' OR 'IPv6 processing error' OR 'memory violation' in device logs