Skip to main content

PX4 Autopilot EUVDEUVD-2026-89109

| CVE-2026-102809 HIGH
Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value (CWE-789)
2026-09-29 VulnCheck GHSA-cxqf-5vcw-ch3g
7.1
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: VulnCheck
View

Attack ChainAIDerived

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

  1. Access
    Reach PX4 nsh shell (serial/MAVLink)
  2. Exploit
    Invoke file2 test with huge -c value
  3. Execution
    Uncontrolled stack allocation overflows stack
  4. Impact
    Flight controller crashes

Vulnerability Assessment

Weakness
CWE
ASVS 5.0
V15 - Secure Coding and Architecture Memory allocation limits
Exploitation Conditions

Requires the attacker to already have access to the PX4 nsh command shell - via a physical serial/USB console or an exposed MAVLink shell over the vehicle's telemetry link - and the firmware build must include the 'file2' diagnostic/test command (part of the systemcmds/tests suite, not guaranteed in all production images). Exploitation is then trivial: supply an excessively large value to the '-c' write-chunk-size option, which is not validated before driving a stack allocation. Limiting factors: pre-existing shell access is mandatory, the test command must be compiled into the running firmware, and impact is confined to crashing the controller (denial of service) with no code execution or data disclosure.

Impact

The vendor CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H) scores 7.1 and correctly characterizes this as an availability-only issue (VA:H) with no confidentiality or integrity impact - consistent with CWE-789 uncontrolled stack allocation leading to a crash. However, there is a meaningful tension between the PR:N metric and the description, which explicitly requires the attacker to already have shell access to the PX4 nsh console; the low PR reflects that the PX4 shell itself is typically unauthenticated rather than that no access is needed. Attack vector is also debatable: the vendor chose AV:A (adjacent, likely reasoning about the MAVLink shell over a telemetry radio link), but console/serial access is local - so real-world reachability depends on deployment (physical port vs. exposed MAVLink shell). There is no EPSS score, no CISA KEV listing, and no public exploit provided in the intelligence, so there is no public exploit identified at time of analysis and no evidence of active exploitation. Net: this is a genuine but bounded denial-of-service against a flight controller that requires pre-existing shell access and (typically) a diagnostic/test build - a real safety concern for a drone but a low-to-moderate priority as an internet-facing security risk. A patch is confirmed available from the vendor (PR #28586 adding a 4096-byte MAX_WRITE_CHUNK bound), which is the decisive mitigating factor.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker who has reached the PX4 nsh shell - via a physical serial/USB console or an exposed MAVLink shell over the vehicle's telemetry link - invokes the diagnostic 'file2' test command and passes an excessively large value to the '-c' (write chunk size) option. The unvalidated size drives an uncontrolled stack allocation, overflowing the stack and crashing the flight controller. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis; the fix simply rejects chunk sizes outside 1-4096.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
Patch available 0.5% exploitation probability (EPSS)

Get an e-mail when this CVE is exploited, patched or re-scored. Free account.

Alert me

AnalysisAIv1 – Sep 29, 2026

Denial of service in PX4 Autopilot (through version 1.17.0) through the file2 diagnostic test command, whose -c write-chunk-size option is used to size a stack allocation without any bounds validation, so an oversized value drives a stack overflow and crashes the flight controller. Practical exploitation requires the attacker to already have access to the PX4 nsh command shell (physical serial/USB console or an exposed MAVLink shell over the vehicle's telemetry link), and the running firmware build must include the systemcmds/tests suite containing file2; the CVSS 4.0 vector (7.1) and the independent CVSS 3.1 assessment both characterize this as availability-only (VA:H / A:H) with no confidentiality or integrity impact, and no public exploit identified at time of analysis. The authenticated-shell prerequisite and the variable presence of the test command in production images materially reduce real-world exposure compared with the raw score.

RemediationAI

Patch status: Upstream fix available (PR/commit); released patched version not independently confirmed. Apply the upstream fix at https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/pull/28586 (commit 46a77d8ad15e7929ef261c41083dffd1bbfa9f85), which caps the -c write chunk at MAX_WRITE_CHUNK 4096 and returns -EINVAL for values above 4096 or at/below zero, then rebuild and reflash the autopilot firmware; because no tagged release version beyond 1.17.0 is confirmed in the provided data, verify against the vendor repository rather than assuming a fixed release number. If you cannot immediately rebuild, compensating controls include (1) building production firmware without the systemcmds/tests suite so the file2 command is absent - trade-off: you lose on-vehicle diagnostics used for bench and field troubleshooting; (2) disabling or physically locking down shell paths, i.e. turning off the MAVLink shell on telemetry links and securing the serial/USB console - trade-off: it removes remote debugging and firmware maintenance access, and does not help against an attacker with direct physical access to an exposed port; and (3) restricting MAVLink shell exposure at the network/radio level to trusted ground stations. None of these controls address a shell that is still compiled with the tests suite and reachable, so patching remains the primary remedy.

Affected VersionsENISA

PX4-Autopilot 0 ≤1.17.0

Affected Packages

euvd px4_autopilot no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

The flaw is classified CWE-789 (Memory Allocation with Excessive Size Value) and lives in src/systemcmds/tests/test_file2.c, a diagnostic test command shipped in PX4's systemcmds/tests suite and run from the NuttX-derived nsh shell on the flight controller. The -c option specifies the write chunk size, which the code at roughly lines 86-130 uses to drive an allocation on the stack; because no upper bound or sanity check is applied, a large user-supplied value overflows the thread stack and faults the autopilot. The upstream fix (PR 28586 / commit 46a77d8ad15e7929ef261c41083dffd1bbfa9f85) introduces a #define MAX_WRITE_CHUNK 4096U and rejects any chunk size that is greater than 4096 or less than or equal to zero with -EINVAL, confirming the root cause is a missing size guard rather than memory corruption or type confusion. The single CPE cpe:2.3:a:px4:px4-autopilot:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* marks the entire PX4 Autopilot line up to and including 1.17.0 as affected; because this is a stack exhaustion rather than a heap or pointer bug, the realistic outcome is a controller reboot/crash (loss of vehicle control availability), not arbitrary code execution.

Know when Px4 Autopilot gets its next vulnerability

  • Watch products and get an email when something new is published
  • Check this CVE against your own stack and servers
  • Exploit and PoC references, threat intelligence from 22 sources

No credit card · 7-day full trial

Severity by source

Vendor (VulnCheck) PRIMARY 7.1 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:A/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
vuln.today AI 6.2 MEDIUM

Shell/console access to the flight controller is local (AV:L); the nsh shell is typically unauthenticated (PR:N); impact is a crash only, so C:N/I:N/A:H.

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

Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).

CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck

Attack Vector
Adjacent
Attack Complexity
Low
Attack Requirements
None
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
None
Vulnerable system: Confidentiality
None
Vulnerable system: Integrity
None
Vulnerable system: Availability
High
Subsequent system: Confidentiality
None
Subsequent system: Integrity
None
Subsequent system: Availability
None

DescriptionCVE.org

PX4 Autopilot through 1.17.0 contains an uncontrolled stack allocation vulnerability in the file2 test command that fails to validate the write chunk size parameter. Attackers with shell access can supply an excessively large value to the -c option to trigger stack overflow and crash the flight controller.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

PX4 Autopilot, the open-source flight control stack used across commercial, research, and defense drone platforms, contains a stack-overflow defect through version 1.17.0 that crashes the flight controller and terminates the mission. Because exploitation requires an attacker to already hold command-shell access to the vehicle, real-world exposure is concentrated in fleets that expose a physical serial/USB console or a MAVLink shell over their telemetry link, rather than the drone population at large. Leadership should care because a flight-controller crash during operation means loss of vehicle control, with consequences for asset loss, mission failure, and safety.

Business Impact: Medium
Compensating Controls

Apply vendor patch.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.5%
Top 61% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
leading open-source UAV autopilot, widely deployed but industry-specific to drones
Data Quality
5 sources
Confidence: Medium

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 0.5%
Patch available Yes
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
Scheduled
Exploitation
Poc
System Exposure· derived
Controlled
Automatable
No
Human Impact
Medium
Technical Impact
Partial

Priority Score

36
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +36
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

Denial of Service attacks render applications or systems unavailable by overwhelming resources or triggering failure conditions.

CVE-2026-32708 HIGH
7.8 Mar 13

Stack overflow vulnerability in PX4 autopilot drone flight control software (versions prior to 1.17.0-rc2) where the Zen

CVE-2026-102808 HIGH
7.1 Sep 29

Crashes of PX4 Autopilot flight controllers (versions through 1.17.0) can be induced by invoking the sd_stress diagnosti

CVE-2026-86097 HIGH
7.1 Sep 04

Null pointer dereference in PX4 Autopilot through 1.17.0 allows any party with PX4 shell access to crash the autopilot p

CVE-2026-32706 HIGH
7.1 Mar 13

Buffer overflow vulnerability in PX4 autopilot drone firmware versions before 1.17.0-rc2 that allows adjacent network at

CVE-2026-86713 HIGH
7.1 Sep 08

Use-after-free in PX4 Autopilot through 1.17.0 allows an adjacent unauthenticated attacker to corrupt flight-stack heap

CVE-2026-32705 MEDIUM
6.8 Mar 13

PX4 autopilot versions prior to 1.17.0-rc2 contain a stack overflow vulnerability in the BST telemetry probe driver that

CVE-2026-86096 MEDIUM
6.0 Sep 04

Use-after-free in PX4 Autopilot through v1.17.0 permits adjacent attackers with shell access to corrupt the autopilot's

CVE-2026-32709 MEDIUM
5.4 Mar 13

An unauthenticated path traversal vulnerability in PX4 Autopilot's MAVLink FTP implementation (CWE-22) allows any MAVLin

CVE-2026-86714 MEDIUM
5.3 Sep 08

Stack buffer over-read in PX4 Autopilot through v1.17.0 exposes stack memory via the netman system command's interface n

CVE-2026-32724 MEDIUM
5.3 Mar 13

PX4 Autopilot versions prior to 1.17.0-rc1 contain a heap-use-after-free vulnerability in the MavlinkShell::available()

CVE-2026-32707 MEDIUM
5.2 Mar 13

PX4 autopilot versions prior to 1.17.0-rc2 contain an unbounded memcpy vulnerability in the tattu_can module that allows

CVE-2026-32713 MEDIUM
4.3 Mar 13

PX4 Autopilot prior to version 1.17.0-rc2 contains a boolean logic error in MAVLink FTP session validation that uses AND

This site uses cookies essential for authentication and security. No tracking or analytics cookies are used. Privacy Policy