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FreeBSD bhyve EUVDEUVD-2026-101931

| CVE-2026-101310 HIGH
Buffer Over-read (CWE-126)
2026-10-15 freebsd GHSA-gf8p-jhgw-8hg8
7.0
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: freebsd
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Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Gain privileged code execution in bhyve guest
  2. Delivery
    Program HDA BDL with zero-length entry
  3. Exploit
    Mutate BDL fields after validation
  4. Execution
    Trigger stream start and DMA transfer
  5. Persist
    Out-of-bounds read/write in host bhyve process
  6. Impact
    Crash VM or execute code in host userspace

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Buffer over-read prevention
Exploitation Conditions

Exploitation requires the attacker to be operating a bhyve virtual machine as a privileged guest, with the ability to interact with the emulated Intel HDA audio device - specifically to configure its Buffer Descriptor List and start an audio stream. The concrete trigger is a BDL containing a zero-length entry combined with guest modification of BDL fields AFTER the hypervisor's validation step (a TOCTOU window) during DMA transfer processing. Limiting factors that reduce realistic risk: access is local to the host via a controlled guest (AV:L), guest privileges are required (PR:L - the attacker must already control device programming, i.e. guest kernel/driver level), no user interaction is involved, exploitation complexity is high due to the required post-validation race, and any resulting host-side code execution is confined by bhyve's Capsicum sandbox. Hosts not exposing the HDA audio device to untrusted guests are not affected.

Impact

This is a genuine but conditional priority rather than a drop-everything emergency. The input CVSS vector (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H = 7.0) correctly captures a local, high-complexity, privilege-requiring flaw: the attacker must already be executing privileged code inside a bhyve guest to program the emulated HDA device's Buffer Descriptor List. The high attack complexity (AC:H) is well justified by the description's TOCTOU element - 'BDL fields were also subject to modification by the guest after validation' - meaning reliable exploitation depends on winning a race, which suppresses real-world exploitability. All exploitation signals point the same way: EPSS is only 0.18% (7th percentile), there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit code was identified, so there is no evidence of active or imminent mass exploitation. The one point of tension worth flagging is CVSS scope: the vendor vector sets S:U, but this is a guest-to-host hypervisor boundary crossing (code execution in host userspace from inside a VM), which under CVSS 3.1 conventions usually warrants S:C - see assessed vector below. A mitigating control is explicitly noted by the vendor: bhyve runs inside a Capsicum sandbox, which constrains what host-code execution can reach. Net: real and patch-worthy for anyone running bhyve with emulated HDA audio, but low urgency given local+privileged+high-complexity access and no exploitation activity.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has already gained privileged (kernel/driver-level) code execution inside a bhyve guest programs the emulated HDA audio controller with a Buffer Descriptor List containing a zero-length entry, then mutates BDL fields after the hypervisor validates them. When the stream starts and DMA processing runs, the host-side bhyve process performs an out-of-bounds read or write, crashing the VM process or potentially achieving arbitrary code execution in the host userspace context (constrained by Capsicum). No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and the required race makes reliable exploitation difficult.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Oct 15, 2026

Out-of-bounds memory access in FreeBSD's bhyve hypervisor Intel HDA audio device emulation can be triggered by a privileged guest that supplies a zero-length Buffer Descriptor List entry and then modifies BDL fields after the hypervisor's validation step, causing an out-of-bounds read or write during DMA transfer processing. The concrete impact is a crash of the bhyve process or, potentially, arbitrary code execution in the host userspace context running the virtual machine, although any such execution remains confined by bhyve's Capsicum sandbox. Only hosts that expose the emulated HDA audio device to untrusted guests are affected, and exploitation requires local access from within a guest with device-programming privileges plus a high-complexity post-validation race (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H, 7.0); no public exploit identified at time of analysis and the EPSS score is low at 0.18% (7th percentile).

RemediationAI

Apply the vendor-released patches from FreeBSD-SA-26:72.bhyve (https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:72.bhyve.asc) by updating to FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE-p5, 14.5-RELEASE-p2, or 14.4-RELEASE-p11 as appropriate for the branch in use - for binary installations via freebsd-update fetch install, or by rebuilding/installing the kernel and bhyve userland from a patched source tree - and then restarting bhyve guests so the updated device model is loaded. Until patching is complete, the most effective compensating control is to stop exposing the emulated HDA audio device to untrusted guests: remove the hda device configuration from affected guest definitions (falling back to no audio or an alternative such as virtio-sound, accepting the functional loss of guest audio), and restrict bhyve to fully trusted, administratively controlled guests, accepting that this constrains workload flexibility. Relying on bhyve's Capsicum sandbox as a mitigations layer reduces but does not eliminate the consequence of host userspace code execution and should be treated as defense in depth rather than a fix. Hosts that never expose HDA to untrusted guests are not affected and can prioritize patching accordingly.

Affected VersionsENISA

FreeBSD 15.1-RELEASE <p5
FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE <p2
FreeBSD 14.4-RELEASE <p11

Affects your stack

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Technical ContextAI · show details

The flaw resides in bhyve's emulation of the Intel High Definition Audio (HDA) controller and codec, where the DMA engine walks a Buffer Descriptor List (BDL) - an array of guest-authored entries describing buffer addresses and lengths - to move audio sample data. The emulation did not reject zero-length BDL entries before starting a stream, so a malformed entry drove buffer pointer arithmetic past the intended bounds during DMA processing, yielding an out-of-bounds read or write. The root cause class is CWE-126 (Buffer Over-read), compounded by a time-of-check-to-time-of-use weakness: because the BDL lives in guest-owned memory that remains writable by the guest while the hypervisor processes the stream, a malicious guest can alter descriptor fields after validation and race the emulation code (a classic double-fetch against shared memory). This is a local hypervisor escape-class bug: compromise starts in the guest, crosses the virtual machine boundary into the host userspace bhyve process, and is then constrained by the Capsicum capability sandbox that bhyve applies to its device-model process. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:freebsd:freebsd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* confirms the affected product family is FreeBSD itself, with the vulnerability reachable through its bundled bhyve VMM and HDA device model.

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Severity by source

Vendor (freebsd) PRIMARY 7.0 HIGH
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 7.8 HIGH

Local privileged guest access (AV:L/PR:L), high complexity from the post-validation race (AC:H), and S:C because the guest crosses into the host bhyve process - diverging from the vendor's S:U.

3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
4.0 AV:L/AC:H/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Primary rating from Vendor (freebsd).

CVSS VectorVendor: freebsd

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Lifecycle Timeline

3
CVSS changed
Oct 15, 2026 - 16:22 NVD
7.0 (HIGH)
CVE Published
Oct 15, 2026 - 07:18 cve.org
HIGH 7.0
CVE Published
Oct 15, 2026 - 07:18 cve.org
UNKNOWN (no severity yet)

DescriptionCVE.org

The HDA audio device model did not check for zero-length Buffer Descriptor List (BDL) entries when starting a stream. A zero-length entry caused an out-of-bounds read or write during DMA transfer processing. BDL fields were also subject to modification by the guest after validation.

A malicious guest can crash the bhyve process or potentially execute arbitrary code in the host userspace context running the virtual machine, subject to bhyve's Capsicum sandbox.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

FreeBSD hosts running bhyve with the emulated Intel HDA audio device exposed to untrusted guests face a high-severity memory-safety flaw that can crash the bhyve process or, under constrained conditions, allow host userspace code execution within the bhyve Capsicum sandbox. Exploitation requires authenticated local access from within a guest with device-programming privileges and a high-complexity post-validation race; no public exploit identified at time of analysis, and the EPSS score is low. Leadership should care because affected multi-tenant virtualization environments could suffer VM availability disruption or weakened host isolation, even though immediate exploitation likelihood is limited.

Business Impact: Medium
Compensating Controls

Disable or remove the emulated Intel HDA audio device from bhyve guests, especially for untrusted tenants; restrict guest device-programming privileges; isolate or segment affected bhyve hosts; monitor FreeBSD security advisories for a vendor-released patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 93% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
FreeBSD is common, but the bhyve hypervisor with emulated HDA audio is a niche feature
Data Quality
6 sources
Confidence: High

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 HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
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
Defer
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Small
Automatable
No
Human Impact
Medium
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

35
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +35
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

A buffer overflow occurs when a program writes more data to a memory buffer than it was allocated to hold, causing the excess data to spill into adjacent memory regions.

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