CVE-2019-15894

6.8 MEDIUM 0.4% exploit odds Fix listed

What it is

An issue was discovered in Espressif ESP-IDF 2.x, 3.0.x through 3.0.9, 3.1.x through 3.1.6, 3.2.x through 3.2.3, and 3.3.x through 3.3.1. An attacker who uses fault injection to physically disrupt the ESP32 CPU can bypass the Secure Boot digest verification at startup, and boot unverified code from flash. The fault injection attack does not disable the Flash Encryption feature, so if the ESP32 is configured with the recommended combination of Secure Boot and Flash Encryption, then the impact is minimized. If the ESP32 is configured without Flash Encryption then successful fault injection allows arbitrary code execution. To protect devices with Flash Encryption and Secure Boot enabled against this attack, a firmware change must be made to permanently enable Flash Encryption in the field if it is not already permanently enabled.

At a glance

Exploitability: Can be exploited with physical access without logging in. High risk of data exposure, data tampering, service disruption.
Exploit odds: 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Fix: A patch, advisory or fixed version is referenced. Upgrade or apply it.

Timeline

2019-10-07 16:15 UTC PublishedDisclosed publicly on CVE.org and NVD
2026-06-17 02:21 UTC Last updatedMost recent change to the record

Why it ranks here

Exploited in the wild: no, CISA does not list it.
Exploit odds: 0.4% in the next 30 days (EPSS).
Severity: 6.8 MEDIUM (CVSS).
Fix: a patch or advisory is linked.

Details

Published: 2019-10-07 16:15 UTC
Last modified: 2026-06-17 02:21 UTC
Exploit probability: 0.4% · EPSS, next 30 days
Weakness: CWE-755
Record status: Modified

Affected

Espressif esp-idf < 3.0.9
Espressif esp-idf < 3.1.6
Espressif esp-idf < 3.2.3
Espressif esp-idf < 3.3.1

Attack profile CVSS 3.1 · 6.8

Attack vector: Physical
Complexity: Low
Privileges needed: None
User interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: High
Integrity: High
Availability: High

Raw vector

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

Is it in your code?

Hand this to your coding agent. It searches your project for the affected products and checks versions. Nothing leaves your machine.

Read https://cve-list.com/agent/cve/CVE-2019-15894.md and follow it. Check whether this project is affected by CVE-2019-15894. Read only. Don't change anything and don't upload my code. Tell me yes, no or not sure, with the file as proof.

· More options · Status badge

Download Square Reddit

Fix and advisories

References

NVD record · CVE.org record