ESP-IDF is the development framework for Espressif SoCs supported on Windows, Linux and macOS. A Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability was discovered in the implementation of the ESP-IDF bootloader which could allow an attacker with physical access to flash of the device to bypass anti-rollback protection. Anti-rollback prevents rollback to application with security version lower than one programmed in eFuse of chip. This attack can allow to boot past (passive) application partition having lower security version of the same device even in the presence of the flash encryption scheme. The attack requires carefully modifying the flash contents after the anti-rollback checks have been performed by the bootloader (before loading the application). The vulnerability is fixed in 4.4.7 and 5.2.1.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 6.1, with relatively low complexity without requiring user interaction and does not require pre-existing privileges . The vulnerability impacts confidentiality (data exposure), integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 1 product from espressif organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2024, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2024-03-25T15:15:52.183
2025-12-05T19:44:41.937
Analyzed
CVSSv3.1: 6.1 (MEDIUM)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | espressif | esp-idf | 4.4.6 | Yes |
| Application | espressif | esp-idf | 5.0.6 | Yes |
| Application | espressif | esp-idf | 5.1.3 | Yes |
| Application | espressif | esp-idf | 5.2 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For espressif's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.