CVE-2026-56117

MEDIUMCVSS 5.5/10EPSS 0.09%

Last modified

CVE-2026-56117 is a medium-severity vulnerability rated 5.5/10 on the CVSS scale. dhcpcd through 10.3.2, fixed in commit 78ea09e, contains a heap use-after-free vulnerability in the control socket handling within src/control.c that allows local unprivileged attackers to trigger memory corruption when privilege separation is disabled. Attackers can connect to the control socket and send a privileged command such as -x, causing control_recvdata() to free the client object while the same READ+HANGUP event subsequently reaches control_hangup() with the stale pointer, resulting in a use-after-free condition exploitable in deployments using --disable-privsep or where privsep initialization has failed with the control socket operating in mode 0666.. EPSS estimates a 0.09% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

Description

dhcpcd through 10.3.2, fixed in commit 78ea09e, contains a heap use-after-free vulnerability in the control socket handling within src/control.c that allows local unprivileged attackers to trigger memory corruption when privilege separation is disabled. Attackers can connect to the control socket and send a privileged command such as -x, causing control_recvdata() to free the client object while the same READ+HANGUP event subsequently reaches control_hangup() with the stale pointer, resulting in a use-after-free condition exploitable in deployments using --disable-privsep or where privsep initialization has failed with the control socket operating in mode 0666.

Metrics

Weakness Enumeration

Affected Software

VendorProductVersions
Dhcpcd ProjectDhcpcd<= 10.3.2

References

Timeline

Published
Last Modified
Status
Analyzed

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-56117?
dhcpcd through 10.3.2, fixed in commit 78ea09e, contains a heap use-after-free vulnerability in the control socket handling within src/control.c that allows local unprivileged attackers to trigger memory corruption when privilege separation is disabled. Attackers can connect to the control socket and send a privileged command such as -x, causing control_recvdata() to free the client object while the same READ+HANGUP event subsequently reaches control_hangup() with the stale pointer, resulting in a use-after-free condition exploitable in deployments using --disable-privsep or where privsep initialization has failed with the control socket operating in mode 0666.
How severe is CVE-2026-56117?
CVE-2026-56117 has a CVSS score of 5.5/10 (MEDIUM severity). The EPSS model estimates a 0.09% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How do I fix CVE-2026-56117?
Check the vendor references and advisories linked above for patched versions and mitigation guidance. You can also run a Strix scan to test if your systems are affected.

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Source: NVD / NIST