CVE-2023-48229
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedContiki-NG is an open-source, cross-platform operating system for Next-Generation IoT devices. An out-of-bounds write exists in the driver for IEEE 802.15.4 radios on nRF platforms in the Contiki-NG operating system. The problem is triggered when parsing radio frames in the `read_frame` function in the `arch/cpu/nrf/net/nrf-ieee-driver-arch.c` module. More specifically, the `read_frame` function performs an incomplete validation of the payload length of the packet, which is a value that can be set by an external party that sends radio packets to a Contiki-NG system. Although the value is validated to be in the range of the MTU length, it is not validated to fit into the given buffer into which the packet will be copied. The problem has been patched in the "develop" branch of Contiki-NG and is expected to be included in subsequent releases. Users are advised to update their develop branch or to update to a subsequent release when available. Users unable to upgrade should consider manually applying the changes in PR #2741.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysisThe program writes past the bounds of a buffer, overwriting adjacent memory an attacker can turn to their advantage. Crafted input can overwrite control data and redirect execution. Remediation is validating every index and length before a write, plus modern memory-safety mitigations.
General guidance for the out-of-bounds write class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 4.9CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Adjacent
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:H
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scopeddevelop branch (or subsequent release after 4.9)
- Update to the latest 'develop' branch of Contiki-NG which contains the fix: `git pull` or `git fetch origin develop && git checkout develop`
- Alternatively, wait for and upgrade to a release version subsequent to 4.9 that includes the security patch from PR #2741
- Rebuild the Contiki-NG image with the updated codebase
- Redeploy the updated firmware to affected nRF platform devices
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-48229 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-48229 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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