CVE-2026-19940 — Bluetooth HFP AG reuses a connection slot while a delayable work item is still armed, corrupting kernel timeout bookkeeping
The Bluetooth Classic Hands-Free Profile Audio Gateway implementation in subsys/bluetooth/host/classic/hfp_ag.c keeps its struct bt_hfp_ag objects in a static pool indexed by ACL connection index. On link teardown, hfp_ag_disconnected() cancels ag->tx_work and the per-call work items and then clears ag->acl_conn, which marks the pool slot as free — but it leaves ag->ongoing_call_work (and ag->slc_work) untouched. The next connection that lands on the same slot enters hfp_ag_create(), whose only occupancy test is ag->acl_conn, and immediately executes memset(ag, 0, sizeof(struct bt_hfp_ag)) followed by k_work_init_delayable(). Zeroing and re-initialising a k_work_delayable whose struct _timeout node is still linked into the kernel timeout list leaves the kernel holding a reference to a node with NULL prev/next links. ag->ongoing_call_work is armed by the remote peer: when a Hands-Free unit sends AT+CIND? during Service Level Connection establishment and the application provides the asynchronous get_ongoing_call callback, the AG schedules the work for CONFIG_BT_HFP_AG_GET_ONGOING_CALL_TIMEOUT milliseconds (default 10000). The timer is cancelled only if the application answers in time via bt_hfp_ag_ongoing_calls(). A peer that sends AT+CIND?, then disconnects the HFP RFCOMM DLC, then immediately re-opens it on the same ACL link, reuses the same pool slot deterministically while the timeout is still pending — the AG's RFCOMM server accept path (hfp_ag_accept()) calls hfp_ag_create() directly, so the remote side drives both teardown and re-creation. The result is corruption of the kernel's timeout list: sys_dlist_remove() on the zeroed node performs writes through NULL pointers from the clock-announce path, and rescheduling the re-initialised work re-inserts a node the list already references, creating a cycle that the announce loop walks with interrupts locked. The observable impact is a fault or hang of the whole system, i.e. a denial of service reachable from Bluetooth radio range; no attacker-controlled data is written, so this does not by itself yield code execution. Exposure is limited to builds with CONFIG_BT_HFP_AG (marked experimental and disabled by default) whose application implements the asynchronous get_ongoing_call callback.
Who exploits it and how urgent it is
A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.
How the score was calculated
- EPSS 0.2% (30-day exploitation probability)+1
- Technical severity (medium)+3
The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).
Triage
Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.
CISA SSVC assessment CISA
Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.
Remediation
Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.
No fix documented by the sources we poll. That does not mean none exists: check the vendor advisory.
First 24 hours
Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.
- Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Zephyrproject Zephyr).
- No fix documented in the sources: reduce exposure and monitor the vendor advisory.
- Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.
Affected scope
Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Zephyrproject | Zephyr | ≥ 4.2.0 and ≤ 4.4.2 | Vulnerable | CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
Attack characteristics
The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.
Every base score collected
Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.
| Score | Version | Severity | Expl. | Impact | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5 | CVSS 3.1 | Medium | 2.8 | 3.6 | vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org via NIST National Vulnerability Database |
| 6.5 | CVSS 3.1 | Medium | — | — | zephyr via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP |
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H (score shown at the top: vulnerabilities@zephyrproject.org) Weakness MITRE
Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.
Detection
Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.
- Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
Timeline
What happened to this CVE, newest first.
- 2026
- SSVC assessment updated
- Affected products added · zephyrproject/zephyr
- Source status changed · Received → Awaiting Analysis
- Record published
- CVSS changed · 6.5
- Source status changed · → Received
- Record created in this database
- CVE published
Source activity
Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.
- 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026
References
2 on the record
Elsewhere on this site
Related CVEs (same products)
- Medium CVE-2026-75083 Integer underflow of the radio-reported frame length causes an out-of-bounds write in the NXP KW41Z IEEE 802.15.4 driver 1d
- Medium CVE-2026-75085 Out-of-bounds read from received-frame length underflow in the STM32WBA IEEE 802.15.4 driver 1d
- Medium CVE-2026-75084 Out-of-bounds write in the TI CC1200 IEEE 802.15.4 driver from an unvalidated radio-supplied packet length 1d
- High CVE-2026-19673 Out-of-bounds read and net_buf length underflow in Zephyr Ethernet L2 when parsing a truncated VLAN header 1d
- Medium CVE-2026-19939 Bluetooth Classic AVDTP: stale timeout work on signalling-channel disconnect leads to kernel timeout-list corruption 2d
- Medium CVE-2026-19937 Bluetooth Mesh Access layer permanently leaks delayable-message contexts, disabling all model responses 3d
Not in any source we poll
Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.
- No fixed version, patch or mitigation documented.
- No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
- No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
- No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.
Answered from this record
Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.
What should defenders know first?
CVE-2026-19940 is "Bluetooth HFP AG reuses a connection slot while a delayable work item is still armed, corrupting kernel timeout bookkeeping", rated Medium. It affects Zephyr (Zephyrproject); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 6.5 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.19% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.
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