High severity · published Feb 25, 2026
CVE-2026-26965
FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol
8.8
CVSS
0.7%
EPSS
No
On KEV
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 vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.7% · higher than 53% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
FR
Freerdp · Freerdp
before 3.23.0 · source: NVD
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-26965
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-26965
Patch
https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/commit/a0be5cb87d760bb1c803ad1bb835aa1e73e62abc
Exploit
https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/security/advisories/GHSA-5vgf-mw4f-r33h
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:19033
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5936
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5939
access.redhat.com
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6004
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