CVE-2026-26965
FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (0.59%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
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.
- CVSS 3.1
- 8.8 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.59% probability · 46th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-787
- Affected
- freerdp/freerdp
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
References
- https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/commit/a0be5cb87d760bb1c803ad1bb835aa1e73e62abcPatch
- https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/security/advisories/GHSA-5vgf-mw4f-r33hExploit, Mitigation, Patch, Vendor Advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19033
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5936
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5939
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6004
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6005
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6384
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6385
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6395
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6396
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6616
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6665
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6712
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6764
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:7292
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-26965
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2442959
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-26965.json
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.