# CVE-2026-45250: Stack buffer overflow via setcred(2)

> An unprivileged local user can trigger a stack buffer overflow in the setcred system call to execute arbitrary code and gain kernel privileges.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 21 May 2026
- **Updated:** 22 May 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-qr94-c32q-xh3q

## What is CVE-2026-45250?

CVE-2026-45250 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 21 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The setcred(2) system call is only available to privileged users.  However, before the privilege level of the caller is checked, the user-supplied list of supplementary groups is copied into a fixed-size kernel stack buffer without first validating its length.  If the supplied list exceeds the capacity of that buffer, a stack buffer overflow occurs.

Because the bounds check on the supplementary groups list occurs after the kernel stack buffer has already been written, an unprivileged local user may trigger the overflow without holding any special privilege.  Successful exploitation may allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the kernel, allowing an unprivileged local user to gain elevated privileges on the affected system.

Weakness: CWE-121 (Stack-based Buffer Overflow)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-45250?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Freebsd Freebsd.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-45250?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-45250 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-45250 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45250 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code:

- CVE-2026-45250: FreeBSD 14.4 setcred kernel buffer overflow (LPE) (github_poc): https://github.com/venglin/setcred

## 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-2026-45250 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-45250 is a high-severity memory corruption vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd, published on 21 May 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-45250 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-2026-45250/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45250/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-45250
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-45250
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-45250

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-45250/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.