Freerdp CVE-2026-22857

CRITICAL

Use After Free (CWE-416)

2026-01-14 security-advisories@github.com

Use After Free Red Hat Freerdp Suse

Critical

Disputed · 9.8 NVD

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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

Access

Send malicious RDP protocol message
Exploit

Trigger IRP completion callback
Execution

Access freed heap memory
Impact

Execute arbitrary code with RDP service privileges

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness	CWE CWE-416 OWASP Top 10:2025 A06:2021 - Vulnerable and Outdated Components ASVS 5.0 V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory lifecycle management MITRE ATT&CK 2 techniques across 2 tactics: Execution, Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. Sign in to read
Exploitation Conditions	No special conditions — remote unauthenticated exploitation against FreeRDP versions prior to 3.20.1 with RDP service listening on network interface.
Impact	CVSS 9.8 (Critical). PoC available. EPSS 0.08%.
Exploit ScenarioDerived	Malicious server triggers the IRP error path to exploit the UAF for code execution.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Why: CRITICAL severity + public POC available.

Patch available 0.1% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Mar 12, 2026

FreeRDP IRP thread handler has a use-after-free where the IRP is freed by Complete() then accessed on the error path. Fixed in 3.20.1.

Earlier versions of this analysis (1)

v1 Mar 12, 2026 - 21:54 CVSS 9.8

FreeRDP IRP handler UAF due to freed object access on error path.

RemediationAI

Update to 3.20.1.

Affects your stack

Find out whether the stacks and servers you run are on an affected version.

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Technical ContextAI · show details

irp_thread_func accesses IRP after irp->Complete() frees it (CWE-416).

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Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

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Severity by source

Sources disagree (Medium–Critical)

GitHub Advisory PRIMARY 9.8 CRITICAL

AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

SUSE CRITICAL

Red Hat 5.6 MEDIUM

vuln.today treats the vendor’s rating as authoritative. A higher third-party CVSS (e.g. CISA-ADP) is shown for transparency but does not drive the headline severity.

CVSS VectorGitHub Advisory

Attack Vector

Network

Attack Complexity

Low

Privileges Required

None

User Interaction

None

Scope

Unchanged

Confidentiality

High

Integrity

High

Availability

High

Lifecycle Timeline

3

Patch released

Apr 09, 2026 - 20:30 nvd

Patch available

PoC Detected

Jan 20, 2026 - 18:34 vuln.today

Public exploit code

CVE Published

Jan 14, 2026 - 18:16 nvd

CRITICAL 9.8

DescriptionGitHub Advisory

FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol. Prior to 3.20.1, a heap use-after-free occurs in irp_thread_func because the IRP is freed by irp->Complete() and then accessed again on the error path. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.20.1.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

Organizations using FreeRDP face critical risk from CVE-2026-22857, a use-after-free vulnerability rated CVSS 9.8. Successful exploitation could critically impact the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of affected systems. Proof-of-concept code is publicly available, increasing the risk of exploitation. Organizations should apply vendor updates immediately when available and implement compensating controls in the interim.

Business Impact: Severe

Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch. If immediate patching is not feasible: (1) Enable ASLR and DEP where available; (2) Implement network segmentation; (3) Monitor for exploitation indicators.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score

0.1%

Top 76% exploitable

Exploit

POC

Public exploit code exists

Data Quality

4 sources

Confidence: Medium

CVE.org

EPSS Vendor

GitHub

VulDB

How this decision was reached

The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.

SignalValue

Severity CRITICAL

CISA KEV No

Public POC Yes

EPSS 0.1%

Patch available Yes

Active threat No

Deciding rule

CRITICAL severity + public POC available

What every action level means

Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.

Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.

This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.

Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision· derived

Out-of-Cycle

Exploitation· derived

Poc

System Exposure· derived

Open

Automatable· derived

Yes

Human Impact

Very High

Priority Score

69

Low Medium High Critical

KEV: 0

EPSS: 0

CVSS: +49

PoC: +20

Weaponized: 0

Threat intel: 0

Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Use After Free HIGH

Use-after-free vulnerabilities occur when a program continues to access memory through a pointer after that memory has been deallocated.

Affected Products (CPE)GitHub Advisory

cpe:2.3:a:freerdp:freerdp:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

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Use-after-free in FreeRDP xf_clipboard_format_equal before 3.23.0. Clipboard format comparison uses freed memory. Fifth

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Use-after-free in FreeRDP xf_AppUpdateWindowFromSurface before 3.23.0. Surface-to-window update triggers memory corrupti

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Use-after-free in FreeRDP xf_SetWindowMinMaxInfo before version 3.23.0. X11 client window management triggers memory cor

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Use-after-free in FreeRDP xf_cliprdr_provide_data clipboard handling before 3.23.0. Clipboard data exchange triggers mem

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Use-after-free in FreeRDP xf_AppUpdateWindowFromSurface before 3.23.0. Different code path from CVE-2026-25953. PoC and

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Same weakness CWE-416 – Use After Free

View all

CVE-2019-0708 CRITICAL POC

CVE-2015-5119 CRITICAL POC

CVE-2014-0322 HIGH POC

CVE-2012-4792 HIGH POC

CVE-2009-4324 HIGH POC

CVE-2015-0313 CRITICAL POC

CVE-2015-5122 CRITICAL POC

CVE-2013-2551 HIGH POC

Same technique Use After Free

View all

CVE-2012-4969 HIGH POC

Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Critical

Product	Status
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/baremetal-os-container:latest Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/kvm-os-container:latest Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/rt-os-container:latest	Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/base-os-container:latest Container suse/sl-micro/6.0/toolbox:latest Image SL-Micro Image SLE-Micro Image SLE-Micro-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SLE-Micro-EC2 Image SLE-Micro-GCE	Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/baremetal-os-container:2.2.1-7.43 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/kvm-os-container:2.2.1-5.67 Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/rt-os-container:2.2.1-5.57	Affected
Container suse/sl-micro/6.1/base-os-container:2.2.1-5.64 Image SL-Micro-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-Azure Image SL-Micro-BYOS-EC2 Image SL-Micro-BYOS-GCE Image SL-Micro-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Proxy-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-Azure-ltd Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-Azure Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-EC2 Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-BYOS-GCE Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-llc Image SUSE-Multi-Linux-Manager-Server-EC2-ltd	Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15 SP7 SUSE Linux Enterprise Workstation Extension 15 SP7	Fixed

References

Advisories & patches

ADVISORY https://vuldb.com/vuln/341138 ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:0345/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:0656/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:0683/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:0761/ ADVISORY https://www.suse.com/support/update/SUSE-SU-2026:0762/ REF https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/releases/tag/3.20.1

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