Local root escalation via unguarded debug IOCTLs
Published May 5, 2026 · Updated May 5, 2026
Local privilege escalation in Realtek rtl819x Jungle SDK 3.4.14B and earlier allows local users to obtain root through debug IOCTLs. The rtl_ioctl dispatcher exposes write_mem and read_mem handlers that parse attacker-supplied addresses and pass them to memcpy without capability, address-range, or bounds checks. Any local user able to open an interface backed by the Jungle Wi-Fi driver can read or overwrite arbitrary kernel memory, including process credentials.
Summary
What happened
Local privilege escalation in Realtek rtl819x Jungle SDK 3.4.14B and earlier allows local users to obtain root through debug IOCTLs. The rtl_ioctl dispatcher exposes write_mem and read_mem handlers that parse attacker-supplied addresses and pass them to memcpy without capability, address-range, or bounds checks. Any local user able to open an interface backed by the Jungle Wi-Fi driver can read or overwrite arbitrary kernel memory, including process credentials.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-36355
- Published
- May 5, 2026
- Updated
- May 5, 2026
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- CWE-787, CWE-782, CWE-200, T1068
- Attack vector
- local
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- May 5, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- May 5, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
- kpwn reference exploitfunctional · validated
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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