Rockchip RK3588s Secure BootROM TOCTOU (time-of-check to time-of-use) vulnerability leading to arbitrary code execution with highest privileges

Summary

CVE	CVE-2024-13942
State	PUBLISHED
Assigner	Kaspersky
Source Priority	CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published	2026-08-19 17:18:21 UTC
Updated	2026-08-19 20:17:00 UTC
Description	Secure BootROM of RK3588s SoC is vulnerable to a time-of-check to time-of-use attack in case of booting from external media (SPI NOR or NAND, EMMC or SD). The code reads the header of the next-stage loader twice. The header contains hashes of the executable modules and is signed with a private key, the public part of which is verified against the SHA256 digest blown in the OTP. The first read is only partial and contains only the hashes of the executable modules. The second is complete, including the header signature. Although the header is verified based on the fully read data, the authenticity of the executable modules is checked against the partial data from the first read. An attacker with physical access to a device containing RK3588s SoC can easily modify the next-stage loader data on-the-fly using a low-cost SD-card or SPI NOR/NAND or EMMC emulator. Even a simple ultra low-cost circuit comprising two memory chips (containing the same data but different headers - the original and the modified one) and a multiplexer can be used to carry out an attack. This can lead to arbitrary code execution with the highest privileges available (EL3). This issue affects RK3588s: RK3588s SoC BootROM (secure) 350B20210512V100 and possibly others. As remediation apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable https://www.rock-chips.com/a/en/products/RK35_Series/2022/0926/1660.html

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 7.6 HIGH from [email protected]

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

EPSS: 0.001630000 probability, percentile 0.059760000 (date 2026-08-20)

Problem Types: CWE-367 | CWE-367 CWE-367: Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Version	Source	Type	Score	Severity	Vector
3.1	[email protected]	Secondary	7.6	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`
3.1	CNA	CVSS	7.6	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector

Physical

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Changed

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

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

Vendor Declared Affected Products

Source	Vendor	Product	Version	Platforms
CNA	Rockchip	RK3588s	affected 350B20210512V100	Not specified

References

Reference	Source	Link	Tags
github.com/klsecservices/Advisories/blob/master/KLSA-00230-Rockchip-RK35...	[email protected]	github.com
www.rock-chips.com/a/en/products/RK35_Series/2022/0926/1660.html	[email protected]	www.rock-chips.com
www.rock-chips.com/a/en/psirt/vdp.html	[email protected]	www.rock-chips.com
CVE Program record	CVE.ORG	www.cve.org	canonical
NVD vulnerability detail	NVD	nvd.nist.gov	canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: The vulnerability was discovered by experts from Kaspersky (https://kaspersky.com) (en)

There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.