Page generated: 07 Nov 2026, 18:00 UTC
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CVE-2026-16511

Two RTIO syscall verifiers, in subsys/rtio/rtio_syscalls.c (subsys/rtio/rtio_handlers.c before v4.3.0), did not validate user-supplied pointers before the kernel wrote through them. z_vrfy_rtio_sqe_cancel() performed no validation at all. It passed the caller's struct rtio_sqe po…

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Two RTIO syscall verifiers, in subsys/rtio/rtio_syscalls.c (subsys/rtio/rtio_handlers.c before v4.3.0), did not validate user-supplied pointers before the kernel wrote through them. z_vrfy_rtio_sqe_cancel() performed no validation at all. It passed the caller's struct rtio_sqe pointer straight to z_impl_rtio_sqe_cancel(), which converts it with CONTAINER_OF to a struct rtio_iodev_sqe, ORs RTIO_SQE_CANCELED (BIT(3)) into its 16-bit flags field in supervisor mode, then loads its next pointer and repeats until that pointer is NULL. The syscall takes no RTIO context argument, so it needs no object grant: any user-mode thread on a CONFIG_USERSPACE build can set that bit in a 16-bit word at an address of its choosing in kernel memory, and the kernel continues the write along whatever pointer chain it finds at the corresponding offset. Setting chosen bits in kernel data structures, such as object permission or thread state fields, can be used to escalate privilege from user mode. z_vrfy_rtio_sqe_copy_in_get_handles() validated its RTIO context and the input SQE array, but only NULL-checked the handle out-parameter before writing a kernel SQE pointer through it, with no K_SYSCALL_MEMORY_WRITE check. A user thread that holds a granted RTIO context can therefore make the kernel store a pointer value at an arbitrary address. The fixes validate the handle out-parameter as writable, bound the cancel handle to real submission-pool storage, and require permission on the RTIO context that owns the matching pool. Without that last check a bounded handle still let any user thread cancel submissions belonging to other contexts, silently aborting their I/O. Systems built without CONFIG_USERSPACE or without CONFIG_RTIO are unaffected.
CVSS 8.8 (HIGH)

Attention and evidence

HYPE SCORE
0.0/10
REALITY · THREAT PRIORITY
3.1/10
General review priority; not probability

Evidence confidence: Insufficient evidence

Why this priority?
  • Technical severity: CVSS 8.8: +3.08
  • Fresh EPSS: 0.17%: +0.00

General review priority, not probability, victim count or asset-specific risk. A range covers missing CVSS/EPSS inputs within the current evidence state.

Sources: 1 documents and public datasets.

Hype components

Headline sample (25%)
0/100
Press, 30 days (60%)
0/100
Grounded branding (15%)
0/100
HYPE TOTAL0/100

Sources and documents

Latest Vulnerabilities
Technical advisory · 04 Nov 2026, 06:17 · CVE-2026-16511 - Unvalidated user pointers in RTIO syscall verifiers allow a user-mode thread to write kernel memory

Score evolution

● Hype   ● Reality

0.01.02.03.04.05.004 Nov 2026 · INSUFFICIENT DATAHype 0.0Reality 3.104 Nov 2026 · BELOW THRESHOLDSHype 0.0Reality 3.1Nov 4Nov 4

━ Hype Score (Perceived)  ━ Reality threat priority. Definition changes are not new attacks.

Public exploit evidence

0

Public exploit entries / repo candidates

Evidence context and dated references

Reality is general threat/review priority, combining observed exploitation, CVSS severity and fresh EPSS. Evidence confidence is separate. This is not calibrated risk, a victim count or an asset-specific assessment. A range reflects missing numeric inputs. Published 3 days ago. Exploitation evidence usually takes weeks to show up: a low reality score can mean there is no data yet, not that the flaw is mild.

Evidence in context

Confidence in exploitation evidence
Insufficient evidence
Priority basis
Exploitation in attacks unconfirmed; CVSS 8.8; EPSS 0.2%
Attention, last 30 days
0 distinct story titles; 0 press documents; 0 publisher domains.
Technical potential
local access, low privileges, no user interaction.
Observed activity
No exploitation observation is recorded.
Known scale
Not quantified.
Evidence confidence basis
Insufficient evidence

Score evaluated: 2026-11-05 13:59:58.968821+00:00 · EPSS snapshot: 2026-11-05T12:03:04Z

Source event timeline
Published
04 Nov 2026, 06:09
Score calculated
05 Nov 2026, 13:59