Buffer overflow in Riot OS
CVE-2026-22214
RIOT OS versions up to and including 2026.01-devel-317 contain a stack-based buffer overflow vulnerability in the ethos utility due to missing bounds checking when processing incoming serial frame data. The vulnerability occurs in the _handle_char() function, where incoming frame bytes are appended to a fixed-size stack buffer without verifying that the current write index remains within bounds. An attacker capable of sending crafted serial or TCP-framed input can cause the current write index to exceed the buffer size, resulting in a write past the end of the stack buffer. This condition leads to memory corruption and application crash.
Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 9.8 (Critical). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.005 (36.9th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 37th percentile — 36.9% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.000
Affected products
- Riot OS — versions 0
- Riot-Os Riot — versions 2026.01
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2026/Jan/16 (technical-description, Mailing List, Third Party Advisory, exploit)
- www.riot-os.org/ (Product, product)
- github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT (Product, product)
- www.vulncheck.com/advisories/riot-os-stack-based-buffer-overflow-in-ethos-seria… (Third Party Advisory, third-party-advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-22214?
- CVE-2026-22214 is a critical-severity vulnerability in Riot OS, classified under Stack-based Buffer Overflow. CVSS score: 9.8/10. Published 2026-01-12.
- How severe is CVE-2026-22214?
- Critical severity. CVSS v3 base score is 9.8 out of 10.