CVE-2026-44422 FreeRDP RDPEAR NDR ref-id aliasing causes client-side UAF/double-free and type confusion
A malicious server can trigger a use-after-free or double-free in the FreeRDP client via RDPEAR NDR parsing, potentially leading to code execution or crashes.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-44422?
CVE-2026-44422 is a high-severity use after free vulnerability in Freerdp Freerdp, published on 29 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol. Prior to 3.26.0, FreeRDP's RDPEAR NDR parser accepts one non-null NDR pointer ref-id for multiple logical pointer fields without tracking the pointed object's expected NDR type or ownership. When the same ref-id is reused across two pointer fields, the parser assigns the same heap object to both output fields. The generic destructor later walks each field independently and destroys/frees both pointers. This causes a malicious-server-triggerable heap use-after-free / double-free in the FreeRDP client's RDPEAR authentication-redirection path. This vulnerability is fixed in 3.26.0.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-44422?
It affects 1 product.
Products include Freerdp Freerdp.
How do I fix CVE-2026-44422?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade to the fixed version. These bugs are found with fuzzing and sanitisers and avoided by memory-safe languages. More about Use after free.
Is CVE-2026-44422 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-44422 exists.
Other vulnerabilities in Freerdp Freerdp
- CVE-2021-37594 Other in n/a
- CVE-2021-37595 Other in n/a
- CVE-2026-67305 FreeRDP Windows Client before 3.29.0 Heap Buffer Overflow via Cliprdr
- CVE-2026-66402 FreeRDP before 3.29.0 TLS Certificate Identity Validation Bypass
- CVE-2026-67289 FreeRDP before 3.29.0 HTTP Proxy Request Injection via Redirection
Sources
Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-44422, GHSA-j9q5-7g8m-jc9v, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-44422.