Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A malicious RDP server can trigger memory corruption in vulnerable FreeRDP clients during authentication redirection. The issue affects FreeRDP before 3.26.0. Successful exploitation requires a user to connect the client to a malicious or compromised server, but impact can include confidentiality, integrity, and availability compromise.
Executive priority
Treat as a high-priority client-side patching issue for teams using FreeRDP. Prioritize exposed operator workstations and support environments that connect to untrusted RDP targets.
Technical view
FreeRDP's RDPEAR NDR parser can reuse one non-null pointer ref-id across multiple logical pointer fields without tracking type or ownership. The same heap object can be assigned to multiple outputs, then independently destroyed, causing use-after-free, double-free, and type confusion in the client authentication-redirection path.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on workstations, jump hosts, or support systems running FreeRDP clients below 3.26.0, especially where users connect to third-party, unmanaged, or potentially compromised RDP servers.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. The attack is network-reachable from a malicious server but requires user interaction and has high attack complexity under CVSS 3.1.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on RDPEAR authentication-redirection code paths and NDR pointer alias handling. The key condition is reuse of one ref-id across fields with different ownership or expected type.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade FreeRDP to 3.26.0 or later.
- Apply relevant vendor or distribution updates, including Red Hat advisories where applicable.
- Restrict FreeRDP use to trusted RDP servers until patched.
- Review vendor guidance for any environment-specific mitigations.
Validation and detection
- Inventory installed FreeRDP versions on endpoints and servers.
- Confirm packaged FreeRDP builds include the 3.26.0 fix or vendor backport.
- Identify users or systems connecting to external or unmanaged RDP servers.
- Check vulnerability scanners and SBOMs for FreeRDP versions below 3.26.0.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-415: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-416: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCWE-825: Exact CWE lookup
Use the exact CWE identifier as the starting point before reviewing related ATT&CK behavior. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2026-44422 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 7.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
SSVC decision data
CVSS vector scores
2 official scoresWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.65.9GitHub_MCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.65.9redhat-SADPVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Vulnerability timeline
Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.
- CVE reservedCVE Program
The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.
- ADP timelineredhat-SADP
Made public.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- ADP timelineredhat-SADP
Reported to Red Hat.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
- 2026-05-29T21:01:10.766Z: Reported to Red Hat.
- 2026-05-29T19:41:46.829Z: Made public.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/FreeRDP/FreeRDP/security/advisories/GHSA-j9q5-7g8m-jc9vCVE reference, GitHub_M · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-44422CVE reference, redhat-SADP · vdb-entry, x_refsource_REDHAT
- RHBZ#2483467CVE reference, redhat-SADP · issue-tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
- https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-44422.jsonCVE reference, redhat-SADP · x_sadp-csaf-vex
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:36203CVE reference, redhat-SADP · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Double Free
Double Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Use After Free
Use After Free represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.
Expired Pointer Dereference
Expired Pointer Dereference represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.