Buffer overflow in FreeBSD

CVE-2026-45250

The setcred(2) system call is only available to privileged users. However, before the privilege level of the caller is checked, the user-supplied list of supplementary groups is copied into a fixed-size kernel stack buffer without first validating its length. If the supplied list exceeds the capacity of that buffer, a stack buffer overflow occurs. Because the bounds check on the supplementary groups list occurs after the kernel stack buffer has already been written, an unprivileged local user may trigger the overflow without holding any special privilege. Successful exploitation may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the kernel, allowing an unprivileged local user to gain elevated privileges on the affected system.

Vulnerability class: Buffer Overflow

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.8 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.002 (7.6th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 8th percentile — 7.6% 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-2026-45250: held from 0.004 to 0.002.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.002 · change: -0.002

Affected products

  • FreeBSD — versions 14.3, 15.0, 14.4-RELEASE

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-45250?
CVE-2026-45250 is a high-severity vulnerability in FreeBSD, classified under Stack-based Buffer Overflow. CVSS score: 7.8/10. Published 2026-05-21.
How severe is CVE-2026-45250?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.8 out of 10.
Is CVE-2026-45250 known to be exploited?
1 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.