# CVE-2025-14769: ipfw denial of service

> Remote attackers can cause a denial of service via crafted packets if the tcp-setmss directive is configured, leading to a null pointer dereference.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 9 Mar 2026
- **Updated:** 9 Mar 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qx99-h65p-8xpj

## What is CVE-2025-14769?

CVE-2025-14769 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 9 Mar 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

In some cases, the `tcp-setmss` handler may free the packet data and throw an error without halting the rule processing engine.  A subsequent rule can then allow the traffic after the packet data is gone, resulting in a NULL pointer dereference.

Maliciously crafted packets sent from a remote host may result in a Denial of Service (DoS) if the `tcp-setmss` directive is used and a subsequent rule would allow the traffic to pass.

Weakness: CWE-476 (NULL Pointer Dereference)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2025-14769?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd.

## How do I fix CVE-2025-14769?

No fix has been published for CVE-2025-14769 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2025-14769 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-14769 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Freebsd Freebsd

- [CVE-2018-17160](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-17160/): Memory corruption in FreeBSD (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2014-3954](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-3954/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-4304](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-4304/): Memory corruption in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2006-0226](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2006-0226/): Integer overflow in n/a (critical 10.0)
- [CVE-2004-0002](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2004-0002/): Denial of service in n/a (critical 10.0)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2025-14769 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2025-14769 is a high-severity vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 9 Mar 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2025-14769 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Freebsd Freebsd. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-14769/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-14769/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-14769
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-14769
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2025-14769

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-14769/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.