Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability is in Zephyr RTOS GPIO system calls. A local, low-privileged task could pass invalid syscall arguments, potentially crossing security boundaries and affecting confidentiality, integrity, and availability. It matters mainly for products using Zephyr with userspace/syscall separation and GPIO access.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for products using Zephyr in deployed firmware where local code isolation matters. The issue is high severity, but source evidence points to local, high-complexity exploitation rather than remote mass exploitation. Patch planning should follow device lifecycle and vendor firmware channels.
Technical view
CWE-20: multiple GPIO subsystem syscalls lacked sufficient argument validation. CVSS 3.1 is 7.8 with AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. The source names Zephyr 1.14.0 and later, and 2.1.0 and later, with upstream PR references 23308, 23733, and 23737.
Likely exposure
Likely exposure is embedded or IoT firmware built on affected Zephyr versions, especially where less-trusted threads can invoke GPIO syscalls. Systems not using Zephyr, not enabling relevant syscall paths, or not exposing GPIO access are unlikely exposed based on the provided sources.
Exploitation context
No provided source states active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked as KEV. The CVSS vector indicates local access, low privileges, no user interaction, high complexity, and possible security-boundary impact. Evidence for real-world exploitation is incomplete.
Researcher notes
Focus analysis on the Zephyr GPIO syscall boundary and argument validation behavior. The public bundle does not provide fixed version numbers or exploit details, so avoid assuming exploitability in a specific product without code review and configuration validation.
Mitigation direction
- Check Zephyr security guidance for the corrected release or branch status.
- Upgrade affected Zephyr builds to a vendor-supported version containing the upstream fixes.
- Review PRs 23308, 23733, and 23737 for relevant GPIO syscall validation changes.
- Restrict untrusted local code from invoking GPIO-related syscalls where feasible.
- Track downstream device vendor advisories for firmware-specific update availability.
Validation and detection
- Inventory firmware and products using Zephyr RTOS.
- Confirm whether builds include affected Zephyr versions and GPIO syscall support.
- Review application privilege separation and less-trusted thread access to GPIO APIs.
- Compare local Zephyr source against the referenced upstream fix PRs.
- Run existing unit and integration tests around GPIO syscall argument validation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-20: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2020-10028 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.16Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://zephyrprojectsec.atlassian.net/browse/ZEPSEC-32CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/pull/23308CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/pull/23733CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/zephyrproject-rtos/zephyr/pull/23737CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://docs.zephyrproject.org/latest/security/vulnerabilities.html#cve-2020-10028CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Input Validation
Improper Input Validation represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.