ESPHome is a system to control microcontrollers remotely through Home Automation systems. In versions 2025.9.0 through 2025.12.6, an integer overflow in the API component's protobuf decoder allows denial-of-service attacks when API encryption is not used. The bounds check `ptr + field_length > end` in `components/api/proto.cpp` can overflow when a malicious client sends a large `field_length` value. This affects all ESPHome device platforms (ESP32, ESP8266, RP2040, LibreTiny). The overflow bypasses the out-of-bounds check, causing the device to read invalid memory and crash. When using the plaintext API protocol, this attack can be performed without authentication. When noise encryption is enabled, knowledge of the encryption key is required. Users should upgrade to ESPHome 2025.12.7 or later to receive a patch, enable API encryption with a unique key per device, and follow the Security Best Practices.
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Affected Vendors & Products
Advisories
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Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Tue, 20 Jan 2026 08:45:00 +0000
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Esphome
Esphome esphome |
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| Vendors & Products |
Esphome
Esphome esphome |
Mon, 19 Jan 2026 18:15:00 +0000
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| Description | ESPHome is a system to control microcontrollers remotely through Home Automation systems. In versions 2025.9.0 through 2025.12.6, an integer overflow in the API component's protobuf decoder allows denial-of-service attacks when API encryption is not used. The bounds check `ptr + field_length > end` in `components/api/proto.cpp` can overflow when a malicious client sends a large `field_length` value. This affects all ESPHome device platforms (ESP32, ESP8266, RP2040, LibreTiny). The overflow bypasses the out-of-bounds check, causing the device to read invalid memory and crash. When using the plaintext API protocol, this attack can be performed without authentication. When noise encryption is enabled, knowledge of the encryption key is required. Users should upgrade to ESPHome 2025.12.7 or later to receive a patch, enable API encryption with a unique key per device, and follow the Security Best Practices. | |
| Title | ESPHome vulnerable to denial-of-service via out-of-bounds check bypass in the API component | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-190 | |
| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
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Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: GitHub_M
Published:
Updated: 2026-01-19T17:58:50.499Z
Reserved: 2026-01-16T15:46:40.841Z
Link: CVE-2026-23833
No data.
Status : Received
Published: 2026-01-19T18:16:06.007
Modified: 2026-01-19T18:16:06.007
Link: CVE-2026-23833
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-01-20T08:40:18Z
Weaknesses