---
id: CVE-2026-14296
title: |-
  When using the Direct XIP
  update strategy, the main application image starts other cores (i.e
summary: |-
  When using the Direct XIP
  update strategy, the main application image starts other cores (i.e. radio
  core), based on the currently active slot without additional verification. The
  MCUboot in the bare (upstream) configuration assumes that…
severity: high
cvss: 7.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-347
vendor: Nordic Semiconductor ASA
product: nRF54H20
affected:
  - nRF54H20 3.2
  - nRF54H20 3.3
published: '2026-09-07'
updated: '2026-09-09'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-09T15:50:19.447'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-14296'
references:
  - url: 'https://docs.nordicsemi.com/r/bundle/struct_sa/page/struct/sa.html'
    label: 30a5e7fb-040d-440a-8cdf-a4a2068ce72e
tags:
  - nvd
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00109
epssPercentile: 0.01134
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'no'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-09-08T15:00:28.845002Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-09-08T15:33:26.975Z'
---

## Overview

When using the Direct XIP
update strategy, the main application image starts other cores (i.e. radio
core), based on the currently active slot without additional verification. The
MCUboot in the bare (upstream) configuration assumes that if there is at least
a single slot for each image available, the system is bootable and continues
the boot process. This may lead to a situation when MCUboot picks different
slot for different images (i.e. (a) for the main application and (b) for the
radio image), boots the main application (from slot (a)) that afterwards starts
the radio image by providing an address of the unauthenticated slot ((a)
instead of (b)).

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.