Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessLure client to malicious RDP server
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DeliveryNegotiate smartcard redirection channel
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ExploitSend SCardTransmit with invalid handle, nonzero length
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ExecutionTrigger uninitialized read in smartcard_pack_transmit_return
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ImpactLeak up to 66,560 heap bytes to server
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V14 - Data Protection Data exposure prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Collection, Discovery 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 victim to be running FreeRDP 3.0.0 through 3.31.x as a client AND to establish an RDP session to an attacker-controlled or compromised server (UI:P - the victim initiates the connection). The vulnerable code path is in smartcard redirection, so the client must have smartcard/device redirection enabled for the SCardTransmit request to reach smartcard_Transmit_Call; the malicious server must send a transmit request with an invalid card handle and a nonzero receive length. Limiting factors: no attacker-side authentication is needed, but the attack is server-to-client (reverse of typical RDP threat models), depends on user-initiated connection to a hostile endpoint, and the smartcard redirection feature being active; impact is confined to disclosure of client heap memory with no code execution or service disruption. |
| Impact | This is a medium-severity (CVSS 4.0 base 5.3) client-side information disclosure, and the available signals converge on it being a genuine but non-urgent issue rather than a top-priority emergency. The provided CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L) shows network reach and no authentication, but two factors cap real-world risk: UI:P means the victim client must actively connect to the attacker-controlled server, and VC:L reflects that the impact is limited, bounded leakage of up to 66,560 uninitialized heap bytes (CWE-200) with no integrity or availability impact. No EPSS score, KEV listing, or POC/exploit code is present in the supplied data, so exploitation status is 'no public exploit identified at time of analysis'. There is no conflict between the signals, but note the input provides only a CVSS 4.0 vector (no 3.1 vector or EPSS), so probabilistic exploitation likelihood cannot be quantified from the data given. The practical risk is heightened only for environments that use FreeRDP with smartcard redirection enabled and whose users connect to untrusted or compromised RDP servers. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker stands up or compromises an RDP server and lures a FreeRDP user (with smartcard redirection enabled) to connect to it. During the smartcard channel exchange the malicious server sends an SCardTransmit request carrying an invalid card handle and a nonzero receive length, causing the client to serialize and return large chunks of uninitialized heap memory back to the server. No public exploit code is identified at time of analysis, but the flaw is simple to trigger for an actor controlling the server side. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 13, 2026
FreeRDP clients from 3.0.0 through 3.31.x can leak uninitialized heap memory to a malicious or compromised RDP server through the smartcard redirection channel. An unauthenticated remote attacker controlling the server side sends an SCardTransmit request carrying an invalid card handle together with a nonzero receive length, which causes smartcard_pack_transmit_return to serialize up to 66,560 bytes of stale heap contents back to the attacker, disclosing client process memory but not enabling code execution or service disruption. Exploitation is not trivial: the victim must initiate the RDP session to the hostile endpoint and must have smartcard/device redirection enabled, and no public exploit code or CISA KEV confirmation was identified at time of analysis, so this is a genuine but non-urgent medium-severity (CVSS 4.0 base 5.3) client-side information disclosure.
RemediationAI
Upgrade to FreeRDP 3.32.0 or later, which is the vendor-released fixed version; this is the authoritative remediation and should be applied to both the FreeRDP library and any packaging that bundles the 3.x client. Where an immediate upgrade is not possible, the most effective compensating control is to disable smartcard redirection on the client (for example by not passing the /smartcard option to xfreerdp and by removing or disabling the smartcard device in any GUI or configuration profile), since the vulnerable SCardTransmit path is only reachable when that redirection channel is negotiated - the trade-off is loss of smartcard-based authentication and any smartcard-dependent workflows for all sessions, including legitimate ones. Additional risk reduction comes from limiting which RDP servers users may connect to and treating user-initiated connections to untrusted endpoints as hostile, because exploitation requires the victim to establish the session to the attacker's server (CVSS 4.0 UI:P) and requires no server-side authentication. Restricting deployment of the affected client to trusted, controlled RDP endpoints reduces exposure but does not fix the underlying uninitialized-memory serialization, so patch as soon as practical. Consult GHSA-f554-v4xw-5j39 and the VulnCheck advisory for vendor guidance and any backported fixes offered by downstream distributions.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
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 sits in FreeRDP's smartcard redirection implementation, the component that forwards PC/SC smartcard operations between the RDP client and a remote server. When a server issues an SCardTransmit request, the client-side handler smartcard_Transmit_Call processes it and smartcard_pack_transmit_return builds the response PDU. If the request references an invalid card handle while still declaring a nonzero receive length, the corresponding output buffer is never initialized, yet the return path serializes up to 66,560 bytes from that heap region - a classic CWE-200 exposure of sensitive information caused by serializing memory whose initialization was never validated against the request's error path. The affected package is tracked under CPE cpe:2.3:a:freerdp:freerdp and reported by VulnCheck. Note that the attack direction is inverted relative to typical RDP threat models: the server is the attacker and the client is the victim, and reachability depends on smartcard redirection being active in the client session. Severity assigned by the vendor/CNA is CVSS 4.0 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N), consistent with an unauthenticated but user-interaction-dependent, confidentiality-only impact.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:L/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Malicious server needs no auth (PR:N) but victim must connect (UI:R); only a bounded heap read occurs, so C:L and I/A:N, scope unchanged.
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
FreeRDP from 3.0.0 before 3.32.0 contains an uninitialized memory disclosure vulnerability in smartcard_Transmit_Call that allows malicious RDP servers to read client memory. Servers can send SCardTransmit requests with an invalid card handle and nonzero receive length, causing smartcard_pack_transmit_return to serialize up to 66,560 uninitialized heap bytes.
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
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), released under the Apache license. Rated critical
FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), released under the Apache license. Rated critical
EUVD-2026-98652
GHSA-xh9q-86wg-w2r5
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Exploit-DB