CVE-2026-45255 (GCVE-0-2026-45255)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-05-21 09:27 – Updated: 2026-05-21 14:27
VLAI?
Title
Remote code execution via installer Wi-Fi access point scans
Summary
When bsdinstall or bsdconfig are prompted to scan for nearby Wi-Fi networks, they build up a list of network names and use bsddialog(1) to prompt the user to select a network. This is implemented using a shell script, and the code which handled network names was not careful to prevent expansion by the shell. As a result, a suitably crafted network name can be used to execute commands via a subshell. The problem can be exploited to execute code as root on the system running bsdinstall or bsdconfig. The attacker would need to create an access point with a specially crafted name and be within range of a Wi-Fi scan. Note that bsdinstall and bsdconfig are vulnerable as soon as the user prompts them to scan for nearby networks; they do not need to actually select the malicious network.
Severity ?
7.5 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CWE
  • CWE-78 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
Assigner
References
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
FreeBSD FreeBSD Affected: 15.0-RELEASE , < p9 (release)
Affected: 14.4-RELEASE , < p5 (release)
Affected: 14.3-RELEASE , < p14 (release)
Create a notification for this product.
Date Public ?
2026-05-20 23:00
Credits
Austin Ralls
Show details on NVD website
To clipboard 

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Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.



Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.