CVE-2023-40271: In Trusted Firmware-M through TF-Mv1.8.0, for platforms that integrate the CryptoCell accelerator, when the CryptoCell PSA Driver software Interface is selected

In Trusted Firmware-M through TF-Mv1.8.0, for platforms that integrate the CryptoCell accelerator, when the CryptoCell PSA Driver software Interface is selected

In Trusted Firmware-M through TF-Mv1.8.0, for platforms that integrate the CryptoCell accelerator, when the CryptoCell PSA Driver software Interface is selected, and the Authenticated Encryption with Associated Data Chacha20-Poly1305 algorithm is used, with the single-part verification function (defined during the build-time configuration phase) implemented with a dedicated function (i.e., not relying on usage of multipart functions), the buffer comparison during the verification of the authentication tag does not happen on the full 16 bytes but just on the first 4 bytes, thus leading to the possibility that unauthenticated payloads might be identified as authentic. This affects TF-Mv1.6.0, TF-Mv1.6.1, TF-Mv1.7.0, and TF-Mv1.8.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by MITRE

What it means for a small business

If your business uses Trusted Firmware-m, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.39%, higher than 32% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 28, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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