CVE intelligence and bounded remediation
CVE-2026-23884 — FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol
FreeRDP is a free implementation of the Remote Desktop Protocol. Prior to version 3.21.0, offscreen bitmap deletion leaves `gdi->drawing` pointing to freed memory, causing UAF when related update packets arrive. A malicious server can trigger a client‑side use after free, causing a crash (DoS) and potential heap corruption with code‑execution risk depending on allocator behavior and surrounding heap layout. Version 3.21.0 contains a patch for the issue.
- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Published
- 2026-01-19
- CISA KEV
- Not currently listed
- Ecosystem
- software/application
- Weaknesses
- CWE-416
Affected products
- freerdp / freerdp
Matched remediation archetype
Use-after-free, double free, and expired resource use
This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.
Check exposure
- Trace ownership, references, callbacks, asynchronous tasks, and teardown paths around the affected object or resource.
- Identify reachable inputs and timing or state transitions that can release the object while references remain.
- Confirm affected builds, allocators, feature flags, architectures, and process privileges.
Remediate safely
- Apply the maintained ownership or lifetime fix and rebuild all artifacts containing the affected native code.
- Use explicit ownership, safe reference management, cancellation and join semantics, and idempotent teardown.
- Add deterministic lifetime tests plus isolated sanitizer and concurrency coverage for shutdown and error paths.
Authoritative sources
Complete CVE record and remediation plan
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