Buffer overflow in Freerdp

CVE-2026-26955

FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol. Prior to version 3.23.0, a malicious RDP server can trigger a heap buffer overflow in FreeRDP clients using the GDI surface pipeline (e.g., `xfreerdp`) by sending an RDPGFX ClearCodec surface command with an out-of-bounds destination rectangle. The `gdi_SurfaceCommand_ClearCodec()` handler does not call `is_within_surface()` to validate the command rectangle against the destination surface dimensions, allowing attacker-controlled `cmd->left`/`cmd->top` (and subcodec rectangle offsets) to reach image copy routines that write into `surface->data` without bounds enforcement. The OOB write corrupts an adjacent `gdiGfxSurface` struct's `codecs*` pointer with attacker-controlled pixel data, and corruption of `codecs*` is sufficient to reach an indirect function pointer call (`NSC_CONTEXT.decode` at `nsc.c:500`) on a subsequent codec command — full instruction pointer (RIP) control demonstrated in exploitability harness. Users should upgrade to version 3.23.0 to receive a patch.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 8.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.006 (46.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 46th percentile — 46.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-26955: held from 0.005 to 0.006.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.005 · newest: 0.006 · change: +0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-26955?
CVE-2026-26955 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freerdp, classified under Out-of-bounds Write. CVSS score: 8.8/10. Published 2026-02-25.
How severe is CVE-2026-26955?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 8.8 out of 10.