CVE-2026-1579

Received Received - Intake

Unauthenticated MAVLink Messages Allow Remote Shell Access

Publication date: 2026-03-31

Last updated on: 2026-04-07

Assigner: ICS-CERT

Description

The MAVLink communication protocol does not require cryptographic authentication by default. When MAVLink 2.0 message signing is not enabled, any message -- including SERIAL_CONTROL, which provides interactive shell access -- can be sent by an unauthenticated party with access to the MAVLink interface. PX4 provides MAVLink 2.0 message signing as the cryptographic authentication mechanism for all MAVLink communication. When signing is enabled, unsigned messages are rejected at the protocol level.

CVSS Scores

EPSS Scores

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Meta Information

Published

2026-03-31

Last Modified

2026-04-07

Generated

2026-07-06

AI Q&A

2026-04-01

EPSS Evaluated

2026-07-05

NVD

CVE-2026-1579

Affected Vendors & Products

Vendor	Product	Version / Range
px4	autopilot	1.16.0

Helpful Resources

Exploitability

CWE

KEV

CWE ID	Description
CWE-306	The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.

Attack-Flow Graph

Executive Summary

This vulnerability exists because the MAVLink communication protocol does not require cryptographic authentication by default. If MAVLink 2.0 message signing is not enabled, any message, including SERIAL_CONTROL which provides interactive shell access, can be sent by an unauthenticated party who has access to the MAVLink interface.

PX4 offers MAVLink 2.0 message signing as a cryptographic authentication mechanism. When this signing is enabled, unsigned messages are rejected at the protocol level, preventing unauthorized message injection.

Impact Analysis

If MAVLink 2.0 message signing is not enabled, an attacker with access to the MAVLink interface can send unauthorized messages, including commands that provide interactive shell access. This can lead to full compromise of the affected system, allowing the attacker to execute arbitrary commands and potentially take control.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, enable MAVLink 2.0 message signing, which provides cryptographic authentication for all MAVLink communication.

When message signing is enabled, unsigned messages are rejected at the protocol level, preventing unauthenticated parties from sending messages such as SERIAL_CONTROL that provide interactive shell access.

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