Busybox: busybox: udhcpc integer underflow in dhcp packet length calculation causes denial of service
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-88833 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | redhat |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-13 17:17:48 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-16 23:17:02 UTC |
| Description | A flaw was found in BusyBox's udhcpc DHCP client. When processing raw DHCP packets, the client replaces the validated packet length with an attacker-controlled value from the IP header without re-validating the minimum size. This leads to an integer underflow when subtracting header sizes, causing a subsequent memory copy with a massively oversized length. An attacker on the same network segment can send a specially crafted packet to crash the DHCP client, resulting in denial of service and loss of network connectivity. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 6.5 MEDIUM from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
EPSS: 0.001880000 probability, percentile 0.079160000 (date 2026-10-16)
Problem Types: CWE-191 | CWE-191 Integer Underflow (Wrap or Wraparound)
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 6.5 | MEDIUM | CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
AdjacentAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
HighCVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Red Hat | Red Hat Hardened Images | Not specified | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi | [email protected] | bugzilla.redhat.com | |
| access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-88833 | [email protected] | access.redhat.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: Red Hat would like to thank Shubham Raj (Causal Security) for reporting this issue. (en)
Additional Advisory Data
| Source | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| CNA | 2026-09-09T00:00:00.000Z | Reported to Red Hat. |
| CNA | 2026-10-13T13:49:21.595Z | Made public. |
Workarounds
CNA: If feasible, use udhcpc in LISTEN_KERNEL mode instead of LISTEN_RAW, or use an alternative DHCP client (dhclient, systemd-networkd). Restrict DHCP traffic on the local segment (for example DHCP snooping on switches).
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.