nRF Connect SDK fork of MCUboot in Zephyr firmware: identifiers and CRA notes

What it is

nRF Connect SDK fork of MCUboot

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Notes on this component

NCS's fork of MCUboot, pulled in at `repo-path: sdk-mcuboot`, `path: bootloader/mcuboot` — the bootloader this SDK ships by default, including Nordic's own signing and HW counter integration on top of upstream MCUboot. With `CONFIG_SECURE_BOOT=y` also enabled, this image's MCUboot is itself the upgradable second-stage bootloader chainloaded by NSIB (see the `ncs-secure-boot` subsystem row) — both rows should be read together on a build that enables both. The upstream advisories are still published on mcu-tools/mcuboot and apply here: CVE-2024-32883 / GHSA-m59c-q9gq-rh2j (an unprotected TLV entry can be injected where a protected one was expected; below 1.11.0, patch recorded as in progress) and CVE-2021-3399 / GHSA-gcxh-546h-phg4 (the repository's development signing keys are easy to ship by accident; through 1.7.0, improved in 1.8.0). One more is filed with Nordic documentation as its only reference, CVE-2026-14296: under the Direct XIP update strategy the main application image starts another core (the radio core, for instance) from whichever slot is currently active without verifying it further, so MCUboot can boot the two images from different slots. Whether this fork carries the upstream fixes was NOT checked for this row: Nordic publishes no advisory feed for sdk-mcuboot and the ncs-vX tag does not state which upstream version it merged. That tag is the SDK's release number, not an MCUboot version: at `ncs-v3.4.0` the fork's `boot/zephyr/VERSION` says MCUboot 2.3.0-dev (github.com/nrfconnect/sdk-mcuboot/blob/ncs-v3.4.0/boot/zephyr/VERSION, read 11 October 2026). A west manifest does not carry that file, so no MCUboot version is read from such a tag. NVD has no CPE for MCUboot under any vendor (its CPE dictionary, queried 11 October 2026, returned 0 entries for `mcuboot` and 0 for `mcu-tools:mcuboot`, and no CVE record is filed under that pair), so this row carries none and its CVEs will not be matched from it; a maker has to watch MCUboot's own advisories.

Where it hides in a firmware SBOM

Zephyr lists a west module by its west name, with no PURL or CPE. Vulnerability feeds cannot find it from that listing alone, which is why the SBOM check adds the identifiers below.

The identifiers we assign

PURLpackage URL: a standard way to name a software package

pkg:github/nrfconnect/sdk-mcuboot@{version}

{version} is filled in from your build. The version is read from a version file in the upstream source.

The SBOM check adds these identifiers to a component your build listed without them.

Honest gaps

Vendor: nordicsemiconductor.

This row has no CPE.

Where this row comes from

https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-14296
Checked on 10 October 2026.

Known vulnerabilities

Not checked yet

Vulnerability data changes daily. Check the version you ship in the SBOM check.

CRA notes

• List this component in your SBOM. Annex I, Part II (1): Identify and document components and vulnerabilities, including an SBOMKnow what is in your product. Identify and document its components and their vulnerabilities, including by producing a software bill of materials (SBOM) in a common machine-readable format that covers at least the top-level dependencies.
• Ship the version with no known exploitable vulnerabilities at release. Annex I, Part I (2(a)): Made available without known exploitable vulnerabilitiesWhen you place a release on the market, it must not ship with known vulnerabilities that can be exploited in your product. "Exploitable" means an attacker could effectively use it under practical operating conditions (Article 3(41)), not only in theory or in a lab. The Commission's draft guidance (C(2026) 5252, points 231 to 237; a draft, not binding) gives three ways a vulnerability is "known". One: it is listed in a relevant public vulnerability database, such as the European vulnerability database (EUVD) or another prominent one. Two: you learned of it from information that is not public, for example a security researcher's coordinated disclosure or your own testing and analysis; a vulnerability you know about and have not disclosed still counts. Three: it has been publicly and prominently reported in reliable media, whether specialist security publications or general news. A report is not yet proof: it does not by itself mean the vulnerability can be exploited in practice or applies to your product, so investigate promptly and confirm whether it does. A limited time may pass between the first report and that confirmation. If a vulnerability becomes known shortly before release, you decide from your cybersecurity risk assessment whether the release can go out or the vulnerability must be fixed first. Weigh its severity, exploitability and potential impact, and the risks to the product once in use; you may also weigh the risks of delaying the release, for example because it fixes other exploitable vulnerabilities. After release, the Part II vulnerability handling requirements still apply. Check your components against vulnerability databases before each release, and fix or justify what you find.
• A bootloader is part of how you deliver updates, so its update path matters here. Annex I, Part I (2(c)): Vulnerabilities can be fixed through security updatesVulnerabilities must be fixable through security updates. Where applicable, that includes automatic security updates that are switched on by default and install within an appropriate time, with a clear and easy-to-use way to opt out, together with telling users when an update is available and letting them postpone it for a while.

Source: Annex I of Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 (Cyber Resilience Act), legal state 2026.10.13-1.

Related Zephyr components

No related components yet.

Guides that mention nRF Connect SDK fork of MCUboot

• The CRA for Zephyr developers: what the law asks, what west spdx gives you, and what is left

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