CVE-2026-26965 | FreeRDP has Out-of-bounds Write

Exp

FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol. Prior to version 3.23.0, in the RLE planar decode path, `planar_decompress_plane_rle()` writes into `pDstData` at `((nYDst+y) * nDstStep) + (4*nXDst) + nChannel` without verifying that `(nYDst+nSrcHeight)` fits in the destination height or that `(nXDst+nSrcWidth)` fits in the destination stride. When `TempFormat != DstFormat`, `pDstData` becomes `planar->pTempData` (sized for the desktop), while `nYDst` is only validated against the **surface** by `is_within_surface()`. A malicious RDP server can exploit this to perform a heap out-of-bounds write with attacker-controlled offset and pixel data on any connecting FreeRDP client. The OOB write reaches up to 132,096 bytes past the temp buffer end, and on the brk heap (desktop ≤ 128×128), an adjacent `NSC_CONTEXT` struct's `decode` function pointer is overwritten with attacker-controlled pixel data — control-flow–relevant corruption (function pointer overwritten) demonstrated under deterministic heap layout (`nsc->decode = 0xFF414141FF414141`). Version 3.23.0 fixes the vulnerability.

Published: 2026-02-25 Last update: 2026-02-27 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-26965 is rated High Exploit Risk (61/100): CVSS High severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.38%). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2026-26965

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-26965

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 0.03% 0.38% +0.35%
2 2026-04-21 0.06% 0.03% -0.03%
3 2026-03-03 0.06%

Full EPSS history (4 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-26965

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R)
A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-26965

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-26965

vendor priority summary link
alpine CVE-2026-26965: 1 source package rows (freerdp); 28 state rows across 2 repos (3.23-community, edge-community); fixed 2, open 26. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2026-26965
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-26965 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 2 source packages (freerdp2, freerdp3), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 3, open 2. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-26965
redhat high https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-26965
suse high CVE-2026-26965 severity important: SUSE including 72 source package names (freerdp, freerdp-2.11.2-150600.4.18.1, …), 100 product×package rows across 10 product lines (SUSE Liberty Linux 8, SUSE Liberty Linux 9, … (10 product lines)): Fixed 63, Known Not Affected 37. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-26965/
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-26965 medium priority: Ubuntu including 3 source packages (freerdp, freerdp2, freerdp3), 16 status rows across 7 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 8, DNE 5, released 3. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-26965

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-26965

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
freerdp freerdp < 3.23.0 cpe:2.3:a:freerdp:freerdp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2026-26965

cvelogic Threat Intelligence