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Vulnerability record · CVE-2023-31129 · published 8 May 2023

CVE-2023-31129: Contiki-ng null pointer dereference vulnerability

Contiki Ng · Contiki Ng

The Contiki-NG operating system versions 4.8 and prior can be triggered to dereference a NULL pointer in the message handling code for IPv6 router solicitiations. Contiki-NG contains an implementation of IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND) in the module `os/net/ipv6/uip-nd6.c`. The ND protocol includes a message type called Router Solicitation (RS), which is used to locate routers and update their address information via the SLLAO (Source Link-Layer Address Option). If the indicated source address changes, a given neighbor entry is set to the STALE state. The message handler does not check for RS messages with an SLLAO that indicates a link-layer address change that a neighbor entry can actually be created for the indicated address. The resulting pointer is used without a check, leading to the dereference of a NULL pointer of type `uip_ds6_nbr_t`. The problem has been patched in the `develop` branch of Contiki-NG, and will be included in the upcoming 4.9 release. As a workaround, users can apply Contiki-NG pull request #2271 to patch the problem directly.

9.8 CVSS 3.1 Critical EPSS 0.64% · top 51.2% CWE-476 · NULL pointer dereference
9.8CVSS 3.1 base score
0.64%EPSS exploitation probability, 30 days
NoNot in CISA KEV
1Affected product versions listed by NVD
4References
17 Jun 2026Last modified by NVD

Description

The Contiki-NG operating system versions 4.8 and prior can be triggered to dereference a NULL pointer in the message handling code for IPv6 router solicitiations. Contiki-NG contains an implementation of IPv6 Neighbor Discovery (ND) in the module `os/net/ipv6/uip-nd6.c`. The ND protocol includes a message type called Router Solicitation (RS), which is used to locate routers and update their address information via the SLLAO (Source Link-Layer Address Option). If the indicated source address changes, a given neighbor entry is set to the STALE state. The message handler does not check for RS messages with an SLLAO that indicates a link-layer address change that a neighbor entry can actually be created for the indicated address. The resulting pointer is used without a check, leading to the dereference of a NULL pointer of type `uip_ds6_nbr_t`. The problem has been patched in the `develop` branch of Contiki-NG, and will be included in the upcoming 4.9 release. As a workaround, users can apply Contiki-NG pull request #2271 to patch the problem directly.

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

Affected products

1 vulnerable configurations from NVD's CPE data, grouped by vendor and product.

References

LinkTags
https://github.com/contiki-ng/contiki-ng/pull/2271 Product
https://github.com/contiki-ng/contiki-ng/security/advisories/GHSA-x29r-5qjg-75mq PatchVendor Advisory
https://github.com/contiki-ng/contiki-ng/pull/2271 Product
https://github.com/contiki-ng/contiki-ng/security/advisories/GHSA-x29r-5qjg-75mq PatchVendor Advisory

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Source: NIST National Vulnerability Database (record CVE-2023-31129), CISA KEV, FIRST EPSS (scores of 2026-09-26). This page is refreshed as NVD updates the record.