What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-23883: Heap-use-after-free in update_pointer_new

• Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: yes
• Published: 2026-01-19 · updated 2026-07-15
• Weakness: CWE-416

Description

FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol. Prior to version 3.21.0, `xf_Pointer_New` frees `cursorPixels` on failure, then `pointer_free` calls `xf_Pointer_Free` and frees it again, triggering ASan UAF. A malicious server can trigger a client‑side use after free, causing a crash (DoS) and potential heap corruption with code‑execution risk depending on allocator behavior and surrounding heap layout. Version 3.21.0 contains a patch for the issue.

Affected products

• FreeRDP: before 3.21.0 — fixed in 3.21.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: FreeRDP 3.21.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/blob/3370e30e92a021eb680892dda14d642bc8b8727c/client/X11/xf_graphics.c#L312-L319
• https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/blob/3370e30e92a021eb680892dda14d642bc8b8727c/client/X11/xf_graphics.c#L340
• https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/blob/3370e30e92a021eb680892dda14d642bc8b8727c/libfreerdp/cache/pointer.c#L164-L174
• https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/releases/tag/3.21.0
• https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/security/advisories/GHSA-qcrr-85qx-4p6x
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2048
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2081
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2222
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2736
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2770
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2824
• https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2952

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