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Full vulnerability report · 2026
CVE-2026-49419High confidence

Jail reference count underflow

FreeBSD · FreeBSD

8.8HighCVSS 3.1
Recommended action
Within 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Fix not verified
R
Operational reassessment

Published severity in operational context

Open reassessment dashboard →
Published severityHighOperational priority:High, unchanged from published severity.unchanged

Evidence used

  • No CISA KEV confirmation is currently recorded.
  • EPSS is 0.47% for the current model date.

Compensating controls

  • Restrict the affected network interface to trusted sources where business-safe.
  • Monitor vendor guidance and exploitation sources for a material change.

Verification

  1. Confirm that the asset runs FreeBSD FreeBSD and falls inside the recorded affected range.
  2. Recheck the vendor advisory before scheduling a change because no verified fixed version is currently retained.
  3. Validate exposure, authentication requirements and compensating controls in the actual environment.
  4. Reopen this reassessment when CVSS, KEV, EPSS, exploit evidence or remediation changes.
Mitigation target: Within 30 daysRemediation target: Within 180 days

This automated reassessment organises public evidence. It does not know asset exposure, business impact or control effectiveness and does not replace CVSS or a human risk decision.

Optional official sources

National CERT insights
?CERT means Computer Emergency Response Team; CSIRT is the closely related term Computer Security Incident Response Team.

Choose official national sources for this report. Each advisory shows its original language. Your selection is remembered on this device and included in shared links.

Official European source

ENISA European Vulnerability Database

Official EUVD identifiers, advisory evidence and known-exploited context. Missing fields are not treated as evidence of low risk.

1 current
ENISA EUVD identifier

EUVD-2026-62231

No EUVD known-exploited evidence

When the JAIL_AT_DESC flag is specified, kern_jail_set() and kern_jail_get() released the reference to the caller's current prison before looking up the jail descriptor. If the descriptor lookup failed, error-handling paths released the same reference a second time. An unprivileged local user can trigger a prison reference count underflow, which may cause the prison structure to be freed while still in use. When this is done on the jail host, the bug will generally result in an immediate panic. However, if the user is running in a jail, then it may be possible to exploit the bug to elevate privileges.

EUVD state
Present in the current official mapping
Known exploitation
Not present in the current ENISA EUVD known-exploited dataset. This is not proof of no exploitation.
ENISA score
8.8 · CVSS 3.1
Advisory evidence
No linked advisory details stored yet
Recommended actionWithin 7 days

High technical severity; prioritise exposed affected systems while verifying vendor guidance.

Fix not verified
01

What, why and how

When the JAIL_AT_DESC flag is specified, kern_jail_set() and kern_jail_get() released the reference to the caller's current prison before looking up the jail descriptor. If the descriptor lookup failed, error-handling paths released the same reference a second time. An unprivileged local user can trigger a prison reference count underflow, which may cause the prison structure to be freed while still in use. When this is done on the jail host, the bug will generally result in an immediate panic. However, if the user is running in a jail, then it may be possible to exploit the bug to elevate privileges.

What

When the JAIL_AT_DESC flag is specified, kern_jail_set() and kern_jail_get() released the reference to the caller's current prison before looking up the jail descriptor. If the descriptor lookup failed, error-handling paths released the same reference a second time. An unprivileged local user can trigger a prison reference count underflow, which may cause the prison structure to be freed while still in use. When this is done on the jail host, the bug will generally result in an immediate panic. However, if the user is running in a jail, then it may be possible to exploit the bug to elevate privileges.

Why

The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.

What

When the JAIL_AT_DESC flag is specified, kern_jail_set() and kern_jail_get() released the reference to the caller's current prison before looking up the jail descriptor. If the descriptor lookup failed, error-handling paths released the same reference a second time. An unprivileged local user can trigger a prison reference count underflow, which may cause the prison structure to be freed while still in use. When this is done on the jail host, the bug will generally result in an immediate panic. However, if the user is running in a jail, then it may be possible to exploit the bug to elevate privileges.

Why

The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count.

How

An attacker operating through a network path may attempt exploitation with low privileges. If successful, the issue may gain additional privileges.

02

Exploit reality and attack path

CVSS severity, EPSS forecast probability, public exploit material and CISA-confirmed exploitation are separate signals.

Observed exploitation
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
No confirmed evidence

No CISA KEV match was present at the last successful refresh. This means no confirmation from that source, not proof of no exploitation.

Public PoC / exploit material
?Confirmed exploitation and public exploit material are separate signals. Attacks can occur without public proof-of-concept or exploit code.
None recorded

No exploit-tagged reference or CISA SSVC proof-of-concept state is currently recorded. Research may still exist outside the structured feeds.

Likely attack path
a network path → Improper Update of Reference Count → gain additional privileges
Attack surface
Network
Privileges required
Low: a basic authenticated account is required
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
Low: no specialised conditions are recorded
Security boundary
Unchanged: impact remains within the vulnerable component's security authority
Weakness
?CWE means Common Weakness Enumeration: a standard category for the underlying weakness.
CWE-911 ↗

CWE-911: Improper Update of Reference Count. The product uses a reference count to manage a resource, but it does not update or incorrectly updates the reference count.

CVSS vector
?CVSS means Common Vulnerability Scoring System. The vector records the metric values used to calculate technical severity.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Common Vulnerability Scoring System 3.1: the compact vector below is decoded into plain language.

AVNetworkAttack vector: The vulnerable component can be reached over a network.ACLowAttack complexity: No specialised conditions are required beyond attacker-controlled input.PRLowPrivileges required: The attacker needs basic user-level privileges.UINoneUser interaction: No action by another user is required.SUnchangedScope: The security impact remains within the vulnerable component's authority.CHighConfidentiality impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.IHighIntegrity impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.AHighAvailability impact: A successful attack can cause a major loss.
Post-exploitation / living off the land
No specific living-off-the-land technique is confirmed in the structured sources. Monitor normal administration tools for activity inconsistent with the affected service's baseline.
NetworkPrivilege escalationCWE-911
A

Official authority intelligence

Only matched European and national findings are included. Language selectors and unavailable sources are omitted.

ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-62231Official EUVD mapping

When the JAIL_AT_DESC flag is specified, kern_jail_set() and kern_jail_get() released the reference to the caller's current prison before looking up the jail descriptor. If the descriptor lookup failed, error-handling paths released the same reference a second time. An unprivileged local user can trigger a prison reference count underflow, which may cause the prison structure to be freed while still in use. When this is done on the jail host, the bug will generally result in an immediate panic. However, if the user is running in a jail, then it may be possible to exploit the bug to elevate privileges.

Official EUVD record ↗
BSI · German · WID-SEC-2026-2165FreeBSD Project FreeBSD OS: Mehrere Schwachstellen

Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in FreeBSD Project FreeBSD OS ausnutzen, um seine Privilegien zu erhöhen, um Informationen offenzulegen, um Dateien zu manipulieren, um einen Denial of Service Angriff durchzuführen, und um beliebigen Programmcode auszuführen.

Official advisory ↗
Cyber Security Agency of Singapore · English · CSA-SB-20260826Security Bulletin 26 Aug 2026

The Cyber Security Agency of Singapore included this CVE in its official Security Bulletin 26 Aug 2026, published on 26 August 2026. Open the linked bulletin for the product, severity and reference information published in that issue.

Official advisory ↗
JVN iPedia · Japanese · JVNDB-2026-031309FreeBSDにおける参照カウントの更新に関する脆弱性

JAIL_AT_DESCフラグが指定された場合、kern_jail_set()およびkern_jail_get()は、ジェイルディスクリプタを検索する前に呼び出し元の現在のプリズンへの参照を解放していました。もしディスクリプタの検索に失敗した場合、エラーハンドリングの経路で同じ参照が二重に解放されていました。権限のないローカルユーザーはプリズンの参照カウントをアンダーフローさせる可能性があり、その結果、まだ使用中であるにもかかわらずプリズン構造体が解放されてしまうことがあります。ホスト側のジェイルでこれが行われた場合、このバグは通常即座にパニックを引き起こします。しかし、ユーザーがジェイル内で実行している場合、このバグを悪用して権限昇格を行うことが可能になる場合があります。

Official advisory ↗
03

Patch and workaround

Operational remediation based on structured source evidence.

Status
?Patch availability is based on structured fixed-version fields and authoritative update references. If no fix is verified, check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Fix not verified
Affected
FreeBSD: 15.1-RELEASE < p1, 15.0-RELEASE < p11
Fixed
No fixed version is explicitly recorded in the structured CVE data.
Action
No verified patch reference is present in the current structured sources. Check the vendor advisory before making a change.
Workaround
No verified workaround is recorded. If business-safe, reduce exposure to the affected interface and allow only trusted sources until authoritative guidance is available.
04

Evidence and provenance

Published 19 Aug 2026 · Last source change 20 Aug 2026, 18:35 UTC · CWE-911 · Improper Update of Reference Count

CVE recordCVE.org · 5.2
CVSS sourceCISA ADP
EPSS source
?The date BlackTree first stored a score for this CVE from the daily FIRST EPSS feed.
FIRST · tracked since 2026-08-23
European sourceENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-62231
Product sourceCNA
Remediation sourceCVE/CNA references
CWE sourceCNA
NVD statusNVD enriched

Core structured fields are present and their contributing authorities are shown above.

Material change intelligence

What changed after publication

View recent updates ↗
  1. Vendor guidanceAuthoritative vendor guidance changed: added vendor advisory: security.freebsd.org/FreeBSD-SA-26:38.jail.asc.
    Before
    no authoritative guidance recorded
    After
    vendor advisory: security.freebsd.org/FreeBSD-SA-26:38.jail.asc
    secteam@freebsd.org ↗
  2. SeveritySeverity changed from Unknown to High.
    Before
    Unknown
    After
    High
    CISA ADP ↗
  3. CVSS scoreCVSS score changed from not recorded to 8.8 (CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
    Before
    not recorded
    After
    8.8 (CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H)
    CISA ADP ↗
  4. Catalogue recordCVE added to the BlackTree catalogue.
    CNA ↗
Material fields only · duplicate refreshes suppressed · history retained for the configured operational retention period
CVE published
ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-62231↗CVE authority or vendor reference↗Official CVE record (CNA and ADP data)↗NVD record↗
Technical terms and abbreviations used in this report
CVE
Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures: the public identifier for one disclosed vulnerability.
CVSS
Common Vulnerability Scoring System: a technical severity framework; it is not patching priority by itself.
EPSS
Exploit Prediction Scoring System: FIRST's estimate of the probability that exploitation activity will be observed in the next 30 days; it is a forecast, not confirmation.
CWE
Common Weakness Enumeration: the standard category describing the underlying software or hardware weakness.
CNA
CVE Numbering Authority: an organisation authorised to assign and publish CVE records.
CISA ADP
Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Authorized Data Publisher: structured enrichment added to a CVE record.
NVD
National Vulnerability Database: NIST's enrichment service for CVE records.
CERT / CSIRT
A computer security incident response team that publishes warnings or coordinates incident response.
PoC
Proof of concept: public material that demonstrates or helps reproduce exploitation.
CSAF
Common Security Advisory Framework: a machine-readable format for security advisories.
LoTL
Living off the land: abuse of legitimate tools or system functions during an attack.
Free version - for non-commercial use only.CVE-2026-49419 · cve.blacktree.nl