Medium severity · published Sep 14, 2026
CVE-2026-15893
Zephyr IPv6 Neighbor Discovery zero reachable time from crafted Router Advertisement causes assertion/DoS
6.5
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
net_if_ipv6_calc_reachable_time() in subsys/net/ip/net_if.c derives a randomized ND reachable time from ipv6->base_reachable_time as min_reachable + sys_rand32_get() % (max_reachable - min_reachable), where min_reachable = base/2 and max_reachable = 3*base/2 using integer division. When base_reachable_time is 1, both min_reachable and the modulus collapse so the function returns 0, and net_if_ipv6_set_reachable_time() stores that 0 into ipv6->reachable_time.
The base_reachable_time is attacker-controlled: handle_ra_input() in subsys/net/ip/ipv6_nbr.c accepts the Reachable Time field of an incoming Router Advertisement whenever it is nonzero and <= MAX_REACHABLE_TIME, so a single unauthenticated, link-local RA carrying a Reachable Time of 1 drives the computed reachable time to 0. Router Advertisements are unauthenticated by default and require only adjacency to the target link.
When a neighbor is subsequently confirmed reachable, net_ipv6_nbr_set_reachable_timer() reads the value and executes NET_ASSERT(time, "Zero reachable timeout!"). On builds with CONFIG_ASSERT enabled this triggers a fatal kernel assertion — a remote denial of service; on builds without assertions the reachable timer is armed with K_MSEC(0) and fires immediately, forcing reachable neighbors into perpetual re-solicitation (STALE), degrading Neighbor Discovery. The impact is limited to availability; there is no memory-safety, confidentiality, or integrity consequence.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Attack vector
Adjacent
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 26% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
ZE
zephyr · zephyrproject
1.7.0 before 4.4.2 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-15893
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-15893
github.com
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/commit/251079ed50464aa0976eb0738a5afbe009cc9d60
github.com
https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/security/advisories/GHSA-8v32-9xf8-r765
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