CVE-2023-33974 | RIOT-OS vulnerable to Race Condition in SFR Timeout

RIOT-OS, an operating system for Internet of Things (IoT) devices, contains a network stack with the ability to process 6LoWPAN frames. In versions 2023.01 and prior, an attacker can send multiple crafted frames to the device to trigger a race condition. The race condition invalidates assumptions about the program state and leads to an invalid memory access resulting in denial of service. This issue is patched in pull request 19679. There are no known workarounds.

Published: 2023-05-30 Last update: 2026-06-17 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2023-33974 is rated Moderate Risk (46.4/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.71%). Mandatory action: Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2023-33974

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 1.26% 0.71% -0.55%
2 2026-05-31 0.18% 1.26% +1.08%
3 2025-11-21 0.18%

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-33974

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.9 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.2 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-33974

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-33974

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
riot-os riot <= 2023.01 cpe:2.3:o:riot-os:riot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2023-33974

URL Tags
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/f41b4b67b6affca0a8b32edced7f51088696869a/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/sixlowpan/frag/sfr/gnrc_sixlowpan_frag_sfr.c#L1717 Product
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/f41b4b67b6affca0a8b32edced7f51088696869a/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/sixlowpan/frag/sfr/gnrc_sixlowpan_frag_sfr.c#L509 Product
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/f41b4b67b6affca0a8b32edced7f51088696869a/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/sixlowpan/frag/sfr/gnrc_sixlowpan_frag_sfr.c#L617 Product
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/master/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/sixlowpan/frag/sfr/gnrc_sixlowpan_frag_sfr.c#L1586 Product
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/blob/master/sys/net/gnrc/network_layer/sixlowpan/frag/sfr/gnrc_sixlowpan_frag_sfr.c#L404 Product
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/commit/31c6191f6196f1a05c9765cffeadba868e3b0723 Patch
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/pull/19679 Patch
https://github.com/RIOT-OS/RIOT/security/advisories/GHSA-8m3w-mphf-wxm8 Vendor Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence