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CVE-2026-45255· NVD / CVE Program· CNA freebsd

Remote code execution via installer Wi-Fi access point scans

When bsdinstall or bsdconfig are prompted to scan for nearby Wi-Fi networks, they build up a list of network names and use bsddialog(1) to prompt the user to select a network. This is implemented using a shell script, and the code which handled network names was not careful to prevent expansion by the shell. As a result, a suitably crafted network name can be used to execute commands via a subshell. The problem can be exploited to execute code as root on the system running bsdinstall or bsdconfig. The attacker would need to create an access point with a specially crafted name and be within range of a Wi-Fi scan. Note that bsdinstall and bsdconfig are vulnerable as soon as the user prompts them to scan for nearby networks; they do not need to actually select the malicious network.

HighCVSS 7.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
May 21, 2026
Updated
Jul 23, 2026
EPSS
0.3% · 26th percentile
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Report tools

JSON

Action score

30

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
30 / 40 · 7.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.3%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

Noroxi analysis

No Noroxi analysis for this record yet

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Affected systems

VendorProduct
freebsdfreebsd

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • freebsd freebsd14.3
  • freebsd freebsd14.4
  • freebsd freebsd15.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (freebsd). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • FreeBSD FreeBSD

    • 15.0-RELEASE and later · before p9affected · release
    • 14.4-RELEASE and later · before p5affected · release
    • 14.3-RELEASE and later · before p14affected · release

Same product

freebsd: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2006-0900nfsd in FreeBSD 6.0 kernel allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service via a crafted NFS mount request, as demonstrated by the Prot
    51Plan
  • CVE-2018-17157In FreeBSD before 11.2-STABLE(r340854) and 11.2-RELEASE-p5, an integer overflow error when handling opcodes can cause memory corruption by s
    46Plan
  • CVE-2010-1938Off-by-one error in the __opiereadrec function in readrec.c in libopie in OPIE 2.4.1-test1 and earlier, as used on FreeBSD 6.4 through 8.1-P
    44Plan
  • CVE-2006-4304Buffer overflow in the sppp driver in FreeBSD 4.11 through 6.1, NetBSD 2.0 through 4.0 beta before 20060823, and OpenBSD 3.8 and 3.9 before
    44Plan
  • CVE-2020-7457In FreeBSD 12.1-STABLE before r359565, 12.1-RELEASE before p7, 11.4-STABLE before r362975, 11.4-RELEASE before p1, and 11.3-RELEASE before p
    42Plan
  • CVE-2008-2427Stack-based buffer overflow in NConvert 4.92, GFL SDK 2.82, and XnView 1.93.6 on Windows and 1.70 on Linux and FreeBSD allows user-assisted
    42Plan

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
FreeBSD FreeBSDp14Vendor (CNA)
FreeBSD FreeBSDp5Vendor (CNA)
FreeBSD FreeBSDp9Vendor (CNA)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone on the same network segment can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
high · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
high · the service can be disrupted
Attack vector
Adjacent
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
High
Availability impact
High

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-78 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

nvd-secondary

Root cause

User input is inserted as text into a shell command. The shell may interpret special characters in the input as part of the command.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-78 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
const host = req.body.host;exec("ping -c 1 " + host, onResult);

Fixed

ts
const host = req.body.host;if (!/^[a-z0-9.-]{1,253}$/i.test(host)) return res.sendStatus(400);execFile("ping", ["-c", "1", host], onResult);

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records