Resource exhaustion in Op-Tee Optee OS

CVE-2026-42546

OP-TEE is a Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) designed as companion to a non-secure Linux kernel running on Arm; Cortex-A cores using the TrustZone technology. Starting in version 3.3.0 and prior to version 4.11.0, a resource leak exists in OP-TEE’s shared memory cleanup logic because the function `cleanup_shm_refs()` in `core/tee/entry_std.c` fails to apply a required bitmask (`OPTEE_MSG_ATTR_TYPE_MASK`) to parameter attributes. When processing non-contiguous memory parameters from a normal-world caller, the system fails to match the attribute type in its internal switch statement and skips the necessary mobj_put() call. This results in a persistent reference leak of `mobj_reg_shm` objects, which remain on internal lists with dangling refcounts. This affects non-FF-A configurations that support non-contiguous, non-secure shared memory. Over time, these accumulated leaks progressively consume the secure-world heap, degrading the system's ability to service trusted application operations and eventually requiring a reboot to recover. Version 4.11.0 contains a patch. No known workarounds are available.

EPSS: 0.001 (1.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 3.8 (Low). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:L.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-42546?
CVE-2026-42546 is a low-severity vulnerability in Op-Tee Optee OS, classified under Allocation of Resources Without Limits or Throttling. CVSS score: 3.8/10. Published 2026-07-06.
How severe is CVE-2026-42546?
Low severity. CVSS v3 base score is 3.8 out of 10.