Kernel use-after-free via file descriptor syscalls
FreeBSD-SA-26:19.file · CVE-2026-45251
Our decision for FreeSense
FreeBSD corrected this on 2026-05-20, before the FreeBSD source pin of every FreeSense version.
- Advisory: corrected 2026-05-20
- FreeSense 1.0 pin: e004ff15f87e (2026-08-03)
- FreeSense 1.1 pin: a52c50b4b7c2 (2026-10-04)
- FreeSense 1.2 pin: a52c50b4b7c2 (2026-10-04)
By FreeSense version
| Version | Status | FreeBSD pin |
|---|---|---|
| FreeSense 1.01.0.7 · frozen, no further fixes | FixedFreeBSD pin of 2026-08-03 | 2026-08-03e004ff15 |
| FreeSense 1.11.1.9 | FixedFreeBSD pin of 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-04a52c50b4 |
| FreeSense 1.21.2.0-DEVELOPMENT | FixedFreeBSD pin of 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-04a52c50b4 |
Workaround
No workaround is available.
What FreeBSD says
A file descriptor can be closed while a thread is blocked in a poll(2) or select(2) call waiting for that descriptor. Because the blocked thread does not hold a reference to the underlying object, this closure may result in the object being freed while the thread remains blocked. In this situation, the kernel must remove the blocked thread from the per-object wait queue prior to freeing the object. In the case of some file descriptor types, the kernel failed to unlink blocked threads from the object before freeing it. When the blocked thread is subsequently woken, it accesses memory that has already been freed resulting in a use-after-free vulnerability.
Impact
The use-after-free vulnerability may be triggered by an unprivileged local user and can be exploited to obtain superuser privileges.
Excerpt from the FreeBSD advisory. Read the original for the full text and the fix.