U BootApplication · Denx

CVE-2026-29008

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2026.04 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click 6 weeks old

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 · unedited
U-Boot through 2026.04-rc3 contains an integer underflow vulnerability in the tcp_rx_state_machine() function (net/tcp.c) that allows a network-adjacent attacker to crash the bootloader by sending a malformed TCP SYN+ACK packet with a manipulated data offset field causing payload_len to become negative. When the TCP_SYN_SENT handler calls tcp_rx_user_data() without invoking tcp_seg_in_wnd() validation, the negative payload_len is implicitly converted to a large unsigned integer (e.g., 0xFFFFFFD8) and passed to memcpy() in store_block(), causing an immediate crash that prevents device boot and may enable memory corruption when CONFIG_LMB is disabled.

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 analysis · high confidence

U-Boot contains an integer underflow in the TCP receive state machine where a malformed TCP SYN+ACK packet with a manipulated data offset causes payload_len to become negative. The TCP_SYN_SENT handler bypasses the tcp_seg_in_wnd() validation check, allowing the negative value to be implicitly converted to a large unsigned integer (e.g., 0xFFFFFFD8) and passed to memcpy() in store_block(), triggering a crash and potential memory corruption.

MitigationImplement bounds checking in tcp_rx_user_data() to validate payload_len before use in memcpy(), and ensure tcp_seg_in_wnd() is invoked in the TCP_SYN_SENT handler to reject out-of-window packets.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
U BootApplication
Affected:< 2026.04= 2026.04

CVSS 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
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check U-Boot version
    Run the 'version' command in the U-Boot prompt or examine the U-Boot binary/boot logs to identify the exact version string (e.g., 2026.04-rc3, 2026.01, etc.)
    Affected if The installed version is 2026.04-rc3 or any earlier version (e.g., 2026.01, 2025.x, etc.)
  2. Verify TCP support is compiled in
    Check the U-Boot build configuration or binary for CONFIG_NET_TCP or CONFIG_CMD_NET symbols; in U-Boot, run 'bdinfo' or inspect the compiled defconfig file to see if TCP networking is enabled
    Affected if CONFIG_NET_TCP or TCP networking support is defined in the build configuration, meaning the vulnerable TCP code path is present in the binary
  3. Confirm TCP functionality is in use
    Check U-Boot environment variables (printenv) or boot scripts for network-related configurations such as ipaddr, serverip, or netboot commands that utilize TCP
    Affected if TCP-based network operations (e.g., TFTP over TCP, network boot using TCP) are configured or expected to be used in the environment

A user is affected if their U-Boot version is 2026.04-rc3 or earlier AND TCP support is compiled into the build AND the device uses TCP networking functionality, allowing a malformed SYN+ACK packet to trigger the memcpy overflow.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 2026.04 or later
Fixed in 2026.04
Interim mitigation

Implement bounds checking in tcp_rx_user_data() to validate payload_len before use in memcpy(), and ensure tcp_seg_in_wnd() is invoked in the TCP_SYN_SENT handler to reject out-of-window packets.

Fix this in U Boot Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-29008 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-29008 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data