Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessGain privileged code execution inside bhyve guest
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DeliveryDrive emulated xHCI event ring operations
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ExploitConcurrently mutate ring size and TRB fields
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ExecutionWin race against host re-read
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ImpactCorrupt bhyve memory / crash host process
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A06:2025 - Insecure Design
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Concurrency control, locking
MITRE ATT&CK
1 technique across 1 tactic: Privilege Escalation The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires the attacker to already be running malicious, privileged code inside a bhyve-hosted guest VM that uses the emulated xHCI (USB 3) device model - i.e., a VM configured with the bhyve xhci USB controller. The specific trigger is the guest repeatedly modifying the event ring size and TRB fields in guest memory (which bhyve re-reads on each use without validation or saving), so the attacker must win a concurrent-modification race (AC:H) to corrupt host-side handling. LIMITING FACTORS: no network vector (local to the hypervisor host via a controlled guest, AV:L); requires in-guest privilege (PR:L); requires defeating the timing race, reducing reliability; and bhyve's Capsicum sandbox constrains the host-side impact of any code execution. Not exploitable against hosts whose guests do not expose the xHCI model, and fixed releases validate and save the ring size. |
| Impact | This is a moderate, defense-in-depth priority rather than an urgent fire. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U, C:H/I:H/A:H, base 7.0) tells a consistent story with the description: exploitation is local to the virtualization context (the attacker must already be running privileged code inside a bhyve guest), requires winning a race condition (AC:H), and if successful yields high confidentiality/integrity/availability impact in the host userspace process. All signals point the same direction - no network exposure and real exploitation friction from the race. EPSS is low at 0.18% (7th percentile), there is no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit was identified, so there is no evidence of active or imminent widespread exploitation; this reads as a hard-to-weaponize memory-safety/race bug rather than a mass-exploitation threat. The scope is marked Unchanged (S:U) and the vendor explicitly notes bhyve's Capsicum sandbox constrains the blast radius even on successful host code execution, which is a meaningful mitigating factor. The main conflict to note: the Tag 'RCE' and the vendor language ('potentially execute arbitrary code') overstate reliability - the realistic and confirmed outcome is a bhyve process crash (guest-triggered host DoS), with arbitrary code execution described only as a possibility and gated by the race and the sandbox. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who already controls a bhyve guest with privileged (in-guest root/kernel) code manipulates the emulated xHCI USB 3 controller, repeatedly changing the event ring size and TRB fields in guest memory while bhyve re-reads them, racing the host's access. By winning the timing window they corrupt bhyve's handling of the event ring, crashing the host bhyve process (denial of service for that VM) or potentially achieving code execution in the host userspace context, constrained by Capsicum. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and the AC:H race makes reliable exploitation non-trivial. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 15, 2026
FreeBSD's bhyve hypervisor xHCI (USB 3) device model can be driven into a guest-to-host memory race by a malicious privileged guest: the emulated controller neither validates nor caches the guest-supplied event ring size, re-reading it from guest memory on each use, and loads Transfer Request Block (TRB) fields without guarding against concurrent modification by the guest. Winning that race (CVSS 3.1 AV:L/AC:H/PR:L) crashes the host-side bhyve process or potentially yields arbitrary code execution in the host userspace running the VM, bounded by bhyve's Capsicum sandbox. Exploitation requires an attacker who already controls privileged code inside a guest configured with the bhyve xHCI controller; no public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and EPSS is low at 0.18% (7th percentile), making this a moderate, defense-in-depth priority rather than an urgent emergency.
RemediationAI
Apply the vendor fix by upgrading to FreeBSD 14.5-RELEASE-p2, 15.1-RELEASE-p5, or 14.4-RELEASE-p11 respectively, since the corrected device model validates and saves the event ring size instead of re-reading it from guest memory; details and errata are in FreeBSD-SA-26:72.bhyve.asc (https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:72.bhyve.asc). If immediate patching is not possible, the most direct compensating control is to stop configuring guests with the bhyve xHCI (USB 3) controller - omit the USB controller from the VM configuration or use a non-xHCI USB controller instead - which removes the vulnerable emulation path entirely at the cost of losing USB 3 device support in those guests; this only helps deployments where USB is not functionally required. Where xHCI must remain enabled, treat the affected host as untrusted-guest-exposed: restrict guest creation and console access to trusted administrators (the exploit needs in-guest privilege plus the ability to race host emulation), and enable Capsicum sandboxing rather than disabling it, since it limits the blast radius of any successful host-side code execution. Note that race-based exploitation is unreliable (AC:H), so no additional network-level filtering is applicable given the local AV:L attack vector, and EPSS (0.18%) indicates low near-term exploitation likelihood - prioritize patching alongside routine maintenance rather than as an emergency.
Affected VersionsENISA
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Technical ContextAI · show details
The flaw is a classic CWE-362 race condition (concurrent execution using shared resource with improper synchronization) rooted in the userspace xHCI emulation of bhyve, FreeBSD's native hypervisor where the vmm(4) kernel module provides virtualization and the bhyve userland process emulates devices on behalf of guests. In a correct xHCI model, the event ring size is a configuration value that should be validated once and saved by the device model; here the size is re-read from guest-owned memory on every use, and TRB fields are likewise loaded without protection against the guest rewriting them mid-operation. Because the guest retains write access to that memory, a privileged in-guest process can race the host emulation thread, producing inconsistent host-side state, out-of-bounds or mis-sized indexing, and memory corruption inside the bhyve process. The CVSS vector CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H reflects a local attack path (the adversary is inside a VM on the same host), high attack complexity (the timing race must be won), low privileges required within the guest, no user interaction, and high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact to the vulnerable component. bhyve's Capsicum capability sandbox materially constrains post-exploitation reach even if code execution in the host userspace process is achieved. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:freebsd:freebsd:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* confirms FreeBSD itself is the affected product line, with EUVD enumerating the patched branches.
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Severity by source
AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attacker needs privileged code inside a guest (AV:L, PR:L) and must win a race (AC:H); successful host-process compromise gives full C/I/A within the unchanged bhyve process scope.
Primary rating from Vendor (freebsd).
CVSS VectorVendor: freebsd
Lifecycle Timeline
3DescriptionCVE.org
The xHCI (USB 3) device model did not validate or save the event ring size provided by the guest. The size was re-read from guest memory on each use, and Transfer Request Block (TRB) fields were loaded without protection against concurrent modification by the guest. This race condition could be triggered by a guest running malicious, privileged code.
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
FreeBSD's bhyve hypervisor xHCI (USB 3) device model contains a guest-to-host memory race that an authenticated privileged guest can trigger to crash the host-side bhyve process or potentially execute arbitrary code in the host userspace, though the impact is bounded by bhyve's Capsicum sandbox. This affects organizations running FreeBSD hosts with bhyve VMs configured with the xHCI controller, where a malicious or compromised privileged guest could disrupt or escape the virtualization boundary. Leadership should prioritize this as a moderate defense-in-depth risk: exploitation requires authenticated privileged guest access, no public exploit identified at time of analysis, and EPSS is low at 0.2%, but the absence of a vendor patch demands interim mitigations.
No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations: disable the xHCI USB 3 controller in bhyve guest configurations; if USB support is required, use the emulated UHCI or EHCI controller instead; restrict privileged guest access to trusted tenants only; ensure Capsicum sandbox is enabled for bhyve processes; monitor bhyve host process crashes for signs of exploitation; and follow FreeBSD security advisories for patch availability.
Threat Intelligence Overview
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.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
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EUVD-2026-101932
GHSA-6jf6-r4g2-3vh5
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB