Server impersonation via malformed certificate identity matching
Published Aug 1, 2026 · Updated Aug 1, 2026
Improper certificate validation in FreeRDP before 3.29.0 allows man-in-the-middle attackers to impersonate trusted RDP servers. The three verification paths truncate embedded-NUL DNS SAN values, prefer a matching Common Name over conflicting SANs, and treat DNS names as IP identities. Exploitation requires a trusted or misissued certificate chain and a network interception position; the upstream advisory demonstrates server impersonation but no memory corruption, code execution, or direct credential extraction.
Summary
What happened
Improper certificate validation in FreeRDP before 3.29.0 allows man-in-the-middle attackers to impersonate trusted RDP servers. The three verification paths truncate embedded-NUL DNS SAN values, prefer a matching Common Name over conflicting SANs, and treat DNS names as IP identities. Exploitation requires a trusted or misissued certificate chain and a network interception position; the upstream advisory demonstrates server impersonation but no memory corruption, code execution, or direct credential extraction.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2026-66402
- Published
- Aug 1, 2026
- Updated
- Aug 1, 2026
- Vendor
- FreeRDP
- Product
- FreeRDP
- Classifications
- CWE-295, T1557
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Aug 1, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Aug 1, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <3.29.0
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
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.
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
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
Book a demo to see how Hinoki identifies affected software and validates exploitability in your environment.
Book a demo