A use-after-free vulnerability in the FreeRTOS-Kernel secure context cleanup handler could allow a local attacker to escalate privileges or cause system instability.

This is a use-after-free vulnerability (CWE-416) within the secure context cleanup handler, which lacks the necessary privilege verification. An attacker with low-level privileges can potentially exploit this to achieve memory corruption or unauthorized privilege escalation.

Rated with a CVSS score of 7.3, this high-severity vulnerability is particularly critical in embedded systems where FreeRTOS is deployed. Successful exploitation could compromise the entire system integrity, leading to unauthorized access to secure contexts, system crashes, or the execution of arbitrary code, which poses a severe risk to device operation and data security.

Immediate Action: Update the FreeRTOS-Kernel to version 11.3.1 or later to resolve the memory safety issue.

Proactive Monitoring: Monitor system logs for unexpected reboots, memory access violations, or unusual behavior in the kernel execution environment.

Compensating Controls: Restrict local access to the device and enforce secure boot procedures to ensure that the kernel environment remains untampered.

Public Exploit Available: Unknown

Developers and system integrators must update to FreeRTOS-Kernel version 11.3.1 immediately. Given the nature of the vulnerability within the kernel, delaying the update exposes the system to potential memory corruption attacks that could bypass hardware-level security protections.