CVE-2020-12884

/// Technical description

A buffer over-read was discovered in the CoAP library in Arm Mbed OS 5.15.3. The CoAP parser is responsible for parsing received CoAP packets. The function sn_coap_parser_options_parse_multiple_options() parses CoAP options that may occur multiple consecutive times in a single packet. While processing the options, packet_data_pptr is accessed after being incremented by option_len without a prior out-of-bounds memory check. The temp_parsed_uri_query_ptr is validated for a correct range, but the range valid for temp_parsed_uri_query_ptr is derived from the amount of allocated heap memory, not the actual input size. Therefore the check of temp_parsed_uri_query_ptr may be insufficient for safe access to the area pointed to by packet_data_pptr. As a result, access to a memory area outside of the intended boundary of the packet buffer is made.

/// Remediation

Check the references section for vendor advisories, patches, and mitigation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.

/// References