Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A flaw in FreeIPMI’s Dell iDRAC information handling can overflow memory and potentially let an unauthenticated network attacker compromise confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The reported scope is FreeIPMI before 1.6.19, specifically when the affected ipmi-oem Dell system-information functionality is used.
Executive priority
Treat this as an urgent remediation item on systems using FreeIPMI with Dell management interfaces. Prioritize internet-accessible, broadly reachable, or automated management hosts. The critical CVSS score supports rapid action, although current exploitation is not established by the supplied sources.
Technical view
CVE-2026-85506 is a CWE-121 stack-based buffer overflow in _get_dell_system_info_idrac_info within ipmi-oem/ipmi-oem-dell.c. It affects the idrac-info subcommand of dell get-system-info before FreeIPMI 1.6.19. CVSS 3.1 rates it 9.8: network-accessible, low complexity, no privileges or user interaction, with high impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where FreeIPMI versions earlier than 1.6.19 use the affected Dell iDRAC information path against reachable or untrusted management endpoints. The supplied affected-product metadata is internally inconsistent, listing version “0” and default status “unaffected,” so organizations should verify installed versions and actual feature use rather than rely solely on automated matching.
Exploitation context
The supplied CVSS vector describes remote, unauthenticated, low-complexity exploitation without user interaction. However, the bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation, and the CVE is not listed as KEV. Exploit prerequisites and reliable impact beyond the stated overflow and CVSS impacts are not fully documented here.
Researcher notes
The vulnerable function and execution path are specifically identified, but the bundle lacks patch-diff analysis, affected-data constraints, and confirmed exploitation evidence. Version scope comes from the description rather than coherent affected-version metadata. Validate package backports with distributors because a reported package version may not directly indicate whether the fix is present.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade FreeIPMI to version 1.6.19 or a later vendor-supported release.
- Restrict IPMI and management-network access to trusted administration systems.
- Avoid the affected Dell idrac-info operation until remediation is verified.
- Review GNU FreeIPMI guidance for any additional release-specific precautions.
Validation and detection
- Inventory FreeIPMI installations and record their exact package versions.
- Identify systems or automation invoking ipmi-oem Dell get-system-info idrac-info.
- Confirm upgraded systems report FreeIPMI 1.6.19 or later.
- Review logs for unexpected failures involving the affected Dell iDRAC information operation.
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-121: 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-2026-85506 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
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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
1 official scoreWe 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:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9mitreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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.
- CVE publishedCVE Program
The CVE record was published.
- CVE updatedCVE Program
The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.
ADP provider summaries
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/08/28/5CVE reference, mitre
- https://www.gnu.org/software/freeipmi/CVE reference, mitre
- https://ftp.gnu.org/gnu/freeipmi/freeipmi-1.6.19.tar.gzCVE reference, mitre
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.
Stack-based Buffer Overflow
Stack-based Buffer Overflow represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.