hwpmc fails to detach PMCs during exec credential transitions
FreeBSD-SA-26:56.hwpmc · CVE-2026-58089
Our decision for FreeSense
FreeBSD corrected this on 2026-08-25, after the FreeBSD source pin of FreeSense 1.0 (pinned 2026-08-03). The fix arrives with the next FreeBSD pin of each line that is still updated. No one has checked yet whether FreeSense is exposed in practice.
- Advisory: corrected 2026-08-25
- 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 | Open | 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 hwpmc(4) are not affected.
What FreeBSD says
When a process calls execve(2) to execute a setuid or setgid image, hwpmc(4) is supposed to detach PMCs owned by unprivileged processes. An inverted check meant that this scenario was not handled properly.
Impact
An unprivileged local user who has attached PMCs to a process can continue monitoring it after the process executes a setuid or setgid binary, contrary to the intended policy.
Excerpt from the FreeBSD advisory. Read the original for the full text and the fix.