CVE-2026-24682
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a heap-based out-of-bounds access vulnerability in FreeRDP's audio handling component. When parsing audio formats fails, the code incorrectly calculates the number of formats to free, potentially leading to memory corruption. This affects all FreeRDP clients and servers using versions prior to 3.22.0.
💻 Affected Systems
- FreeRDP
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise of the FreeRDP server or client, potentially allowing attacker lateral movement.
Likely Case
Denial of service through application crash or memory corruption, potentially leading to information disclosure via memory leaks.
If Mitigated
Application crash with no further impact if memory corruption doesn't lead to code execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires triggering audio format parsing failure, which may require specific conditions or malformed audio data.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.22.0
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/security/advisories/GHSA-vcw2-pqgw-mx6g
Restart Required: Yes
Instructions:
1. Update FreeRDP to version 3.22.0 or later. 2. For Linux: Use package manager (apt/yum/dnf) to update freerdp2 package. 3. For Windows: Download latest installer from FreeRDP GitHub releases. 4. Restart all FreeRDP services and applications.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable audio channel
allDisable audio redirection in FreeRDP connections to prevent triggering the vulnerable code path.
xfreerdp /audio-mode:0
wfreerdp /audio-mode:0
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network segmentation to isolate FreeRDP traffic
- Use application allowlisting to restrict FreeRDP usage to trusted systems only
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check FreeRDP version with 'xfreerdp --version' or 'wfreerdp --version'. If version is below 3.22.0, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
xfreerdp --version 2>/dev/null || wfreerdp --version 2>/dev/null || echo "FreeRDP not found"Verify Fix Applied:
After update, verify version is 3.22.0 or higher using version check command.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- FreeRDP crash logs with segmentation faults
- Application errors mentioning audin_server_recv_formats or audio_formats_free
Network Indicators:
- Unusual RDP connections with audio channel enabled
- Multiple failed RDP connections to same host
SIEM Query:
source="*freerdp*" AND (error OR crash OR segmentation)