CVE-2026-7164
Received Received - Intake
Stack Overflow in FreeBSD Packet Filter (pf)

Publication date: 2026-04-30

Last updated on: 2026-05-01

Assigner: FreeBSD

Description
Incorrect packet validation allowed unbounded recursion parsing SCTP chunk parameters. This can eventually result in a stack overflow and panic. Remote attackers can craft packets which cause affected systems to panic. This affects any system where pf is configured to process traffic, independent of the configured ruleset.
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Meta Information
Published
2026-04-30
Last Modified
2026-05-01
Generated
2026-06-16
AI Q&A
2026-04-30
EPSS Evaluated
2026-06-15
NVD
CVE-2026-7164
EUVD
EUVD-2026-26352
Affected Vendors & Products
Showing 37 associated CPEs
Vendor Product Version / Range
freebsd freebsd 15.0
freebsd freebsd 15.0
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 15.0
freebsd freebsd 14.4
freebsd freebsd 15.0
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.4
freebsd freebsd 15.0
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 13.5
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.3
freebsd freebsd 14.4
freebsd freebsd 14.4
freebsd freebsd 15.0
freebsd freebsd 15.0
Helpful Resources
Exploitability
CWE
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KEV
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CWE ID Description
CWE-791 The product receives data from an upstream component, but does not completely filter special elements before sending it to a downstream component.
CWE-674 The product does not properly control the amount of recursion that takes place, consuming excessive resources, such as allocated memory or the program stack.
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Compliance Impact

The provided information does not specify any direct impact of this vulnerability on compliance with common standards and regulations such as GDPR or HIPAA.

Executive Summary

This vulnerability involves incorrect packet validation in the pf packet filter's SCTP (Stream Control Transmission Protocol) parsing. Specifically, it allows unbounded recursion when parsing SCTP chunk parameters, which can lead to a stack overflow and cause the system to panic.

Remote attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious SCTP packets that trigger this unbounded recursion, regardless of the pf ruleset configuration.

Impact Analysis

If your system uses the pf packet filter to process network traffic, this vulnerability can be exploited by remote attackers to cause your system to panic and potentially crash due to a stack overflow.

This impact is independent of the configured pf ruleset, meaning that even carefully configured firewall rules do not prevent exploitation.

Systems not using pf are not affected by this vulnerability.

Detection Guidance

This vulnerability involves incorrect packet validation in the pf packet filter's SCTP parsing, which can cause a system panic when processing crafted SCTP packets.

There is no specific detection method or commands provided to identify exploitation attempts or the presence of this vulnerability on a network or system.

Mitigation Strategies

To mitigate this vulnerability, you should upgrade your FreeBSD system to a patched version of pf that includes the fix for CVE-2026-7164.

  • Upgrade to a patched FreeBSD version (stable/15, stable/14, stable/13, or their respective release branches) dated after April 29, 2026.
  • Apply patches manually if preferred, using the provided Git commit hashes for each affected branch.
  • Update via pkg, freebsd-update, or source code compilation.
  • Reboot the system after applying the update or patch to ensure the fix is active.

No workaround exists, and systems not using pf are unaffected.

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