CVE-2026-49415

Privilege escalation via procfs execve race

Published Aug 19, 2026 · Updated Aug 20, 2026

Race condition in execve(2) in FreeBSD allows local users to gain root privileges by altering a SUID process during execution. The kernel installs the new SUID binary vmspace before updating credentials, so procfs or linprocfs debug-path checks still trust the caller's original UID and permit memory reads or writes against the target image in that window. Exploitation requires local code execution and a same-UID process that can reach procfs or linprocfs before the credential switch completes; successful writes can hand full system control to the attacker.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.22%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Race condition in execve(2) in FreeBSD allows local users to gain root privileges by altering a SUID process during execution. The kernel installs the new SUID binary vmspace before updating credentials, so procfs or linprocfs debug-path checks still trust the caller's original UID and permit memory reads or writes against the target image in that window. Exploitation requires local code execution and a same-UID process that can reach procfs or linprocfs before the credential switch completes; successful writes can hand full system control to the attacker.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-49415
Published
Aug 19, 2026
Updated
Aug 20, 2026
Vendor
The FreeBSD Project
Product
FreeBSD
Classifications
T1068
Attack vector
local
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Aug 19, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Aug 20, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=14.3-RELEASE <p16
  2. Affected versionversion=14.4-RELEASE <p7
  3. Affected versionversion=15.0-RELEASE <p11
  4. Affected versionversion=15.1-RELEASE <p1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectorlocal
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

The FreeBSD Project · FreeBSDversion=14.3-RELEASE <p16; version=14.4-RELEASE <p7; version=15.0-RELEASE <p11; version=15.1-RELEASE <p1

Published CVSS scores

8.8GitHub Advisory DatabaseCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectorlocal
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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