Medium severity · published Jul 21, 2026
CVE-2026-10677
Kernel heap memory leak in `z_vrfy_k_poll()` lets an unprivileged user thread exhaust the kernel resource pool
6.5
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
The CONFIG_USERSPACE syscall verifier z_vrfy_k_poll() in kernel/poll.c allocates a kernel-side copy of the user-supplied k_poll_event[] via z_thread_malloc() and then validates each event's object handle. Before this fix, validation used K_OOPS(K_SYSCALL_OBJ(...)) inline inside the loop, which kills the calling thread without freeing events_copy.
A user thread can pass num_events >= 1 with a forged object handle to leak the allocation; because newly spawned user threads inherit the parent's resource_pool (kernel/thread.c), an attacker spawns sacrificial threads to repeat the leak until the shared kernel heap is exhausted. Once depleted, legitimate kernel allocations from that pool (k_queue alloc nodes, k_msgq buffers, future k_poll calls, etc.) fail, causing a system-level denial of service.
The fix replaces each inline K_OOPS with a conditional goto oops_free so the buffer is freed before the thread is killed. Affects Zephyr releases from v1.12.0 (when k_poll was first exposed to user mode) through v4.4.1.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 4% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
ZE
zephyr · zephyrproject
1.12.0 before 4.3.1; 4.4.0 before 4.4.2 · source: vendor, NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-10677
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-10677
Patch
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/8dc7a37bc75402a0a3329397887f32f5fb4da3ad
Patch
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-r3cc-8wcr-xfj9
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