CVE Intelligence
High Integrity

CVE-2026-33243 — barebox: FIT Signature Verification Bypass Vulnerability

barebox is a bootloader. In barebox from version 2016.03.0 to before version 2026.03.1 (and the corresponding backport to 2025.09.3), an attacker could exploit a FIT signature verification vulnerability to trick the bootloader into booting different images than those that were verified as part of a signed configuration. mkimage(1) sets the hashed-nodes property of the FIT signature node to list which nodes of the FIT were hashed as part of the signing process as these will need to be verified later on by the bootloader. However, hashed-nodes itself is not part of the hash and could therefore be modified to allow booting different images than those that have been verified. This issue has been patched in barebox versions 2026.03.1 and backported to 2025.09.3.

Published Mar 20, 2026 · Updated Oct 13, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP · CNA: GitHub_M

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 0.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+0
  • Technical severity (high)+6

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.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
0.12%
ahead of 2% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Barebox
Barebox
CVSS base
8.2
High · 2 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 8.3 provisional

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.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Total
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)
  • Documented patch — github.com (NIST National Vulnerability Database)

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.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Barebox Barebox, Pengutronix Barebox).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (integrity), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Barebox Barebox version >= 2016.03.0, < 2025.09.3version >= 2025.10.0, < 2026.03.1 Vulnerable CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
Pengutronix Barebox ≥ 2016.03.0 and < 2025.09.3≥ 2025.10.0 and < 2026.03.1 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
8.3 CVSS 3.1 High — — GitHub_M via CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
8.2 CVSS 3.1 High 1.5 6.0 security-advisories@github.com via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H (score shown at the top: security-advisories@github.com)

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-345 · Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 0.12%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Affected products added · barebox/barebox
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 8.2
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVE published
    Mar 20, 2026 · GitHub_M

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

Barebox
every CVE for this vendor
Integrity
same class
CWE-345
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-34962 barebox ext4 Directory Parsing Infinite Loop Denial of Service May 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-34963 barebox EFI PE Loader Memory Safety Vulnerabilities May 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-34961 barebox ext4 Extent Parsing Out-of-Bounds Read May 11, 2026
  • CVE-2026-34960 barebox Out-of-Bounds Read in DHCP Option Parsing May 11, 2026

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 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-2026-33243 is "barebox: FIT Signature Verification Bypass Vulnerability", rated High. It affects Barebox (Barebox); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 8.2 describes technical severity. EPSS 0.12% 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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