CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2025-9709NVD status: Deferred

nRF52810: On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2025-9709 is a high-severity on-chip debug and test interface with improper access control vulnerability in nRF52810 from Nordic Semiconductor, with a CVSS 4.0 base score of 8.6 out of 10. It can be exploited with physical access to the device by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected nRF52810 versions: 0. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.24% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of nRF52810 you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Nordic SemiconductornRF528100Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
PhysicalThe attacker must physically touch the device.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Attack requirements
NoneThe attack does not depend on a particular deployment or configuration.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Confidentiality (vulnerable system)
HighSerious loss of confidentiality on the vulnerable system.
Integrity (vulnerable system)
HighSerious loss of integrity on the vulnerable system.
Availability (vulnerable system)
HighSerious loss of availability on the vulnerable system.
Confidentiality (other systems)
HighSerious loss of confidentiality on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Integrity (other systems)
HighSerious loss of integrity on systems beyond the vulnerable one.
Availability (other systems)
HighSerious loss of availability on systems beyond the vulnerable one.

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:P/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:P/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X. Scored by CNA.

Official description

On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control and Improper Protection against Electromagnetic Fault Injection (EM-FI) in Nordic Semiconductor nRF52810 allow attacker to perform EM Fault Injection and bypass APPROTECT at runtime, requiring the least amount of modification to the hardware system possible.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control

The chip does not implement or does not correctly perform access control to check whether users are authorized to access internal registers and test modes through the physical debug/test interface.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • If feasible, the manufacturer should disable the JTAG interface or implement authentication and authorization for the JTAG interface. If authentication logic is added, it should be resistant to timing attacks. Security-sensitive data stored in registers, such as keys, etc. should be cleared when entering debug mode.

More On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control vulnerabilities (CWE-1191)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: poc, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent On-Chip Debug and Test Interface With Improper Access Control vulnerabilities

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