CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-58086NVD status: Analyzed

FreeBSD: Improper Check for Dropped Privileges

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-58086 is a high-severity improper check for dropped privileges vulnerability in FreeBSD, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. The record lists versions p2, p12 as the first without the flaw, so updating FreeBSD to one of those releases or later removes the exposure. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.38% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Update FreeBSD to p2 or p12, whichever matches your release line, or a later version.
  2. Read the advisory on security.freebsd.org for workarounds and exact fixed builds.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
FreeBSDFreeBSD15.1-RELEASE up to, but not including, p2; 15.0-RELEASE up to, but not including, p12p2, p12

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
LowA basic user account is enough.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
NoneNo data is disclosed.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H. Scored by CISA (ADP).

Official description

As an inadvertent side effect of an unrelated code change, PRIV_KTRACE was always denied to a jailed root user. Tracing configured by a jailed root user was therefore not flagged as privileged. An unprivileged user in a jail that has permission to debug the target process can modify the jailed root user's ktrace(2) flags, or disable tracing outright. A jailed root user therefore cannot reliably trace unprivileged processes.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Check for Dropped Privileges

The product attempts to drop privileges but does not check or incorrectly checks to see if the drop succeeded.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Compartmentalize the system to have safe areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area. Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.
  • Check the results of all functions that return a value and verify that the value is expected.
  • In Windows, make sure that the process token has the SeImpersonatePrivilege(Microsoft Server 2003). Code that relies on impersonation for security must ensure that the impersonation succeeded, i.e., that a proper privilege demotion happened.

More Improper Check for Dropped Privileges vulnerabilities (CWE-273)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other vulnerabilities in FreeBSD

All FreeBSD vulnerabilities

Recent Improper Check for Dropped Privileges vulnerabilities

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