Incorrect audit records for ptrace(2) syscall requests
FreeBSD-SA-26:45.audit · CVE-2026-49426
Our decision for FreeSense
FreeBSD corrected this on 2026-06-30, before the FreeBSD source pin of every FreeSense version.
- Advisory: corrected 2026-06-30
- 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. Systems that do not use audit(4) are not affected.
What FreeBSD says
When auditing a system call executed via ptrace(PT_SC_REMOTE), the kernel passed the return value of an internal setup function to AUDIT_SYSCALL_EXIT() rather than the actual result of the executed system call. As a result, committed audit records for system calls which returned an error do not reflect the true outcome of the operation. That is, they indicate that the operation succeeded when it in fact failed.
Impact
Audit records for system calls executed via ptrace(PT_SC_REMOTE) may show an incorrect error status. An attacker with the ability to debug a process could use this to produce misleading audit trails, potentially undermining audit-based Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS).
Excerpt from the FreeBSD advisory. Read the original for the full text and the fix.