Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2025-14769 is a high-severity NULL Pointer Dereference (CWE-476) vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Endpoint Denial of Service (T1499); ranked in the top 37% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-14769 is a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability (CWE-476) in the ipfw firewall component of FreeBSD. In affected versions, the tcp-setmss handler may free packet data and throw an error without halting the rule processing engine. A subsequent rule can then process and allow the traffic despite the packet data being gone, triggering the dereference. The vulnerability was published on 2026-03-09 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H).
A remote, unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by sending maliciously crafted packets to a targeted FreeBSD system configured with ipfw rules that include the tcp-setmss directive followed by a rule allowing the traffic. Successful exploitation results in a Denial of Service (DoS) condition due to the crash from the NULL pointer dereference.
The FreeBSD Security Advisory FreeBSD-SA-25:11.ipfw provides details on the issue and mitigation, available at https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-25:11.ipfw.asc.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2025-208405
Vulnerability Data
In some cases, the `tcp-setmss` handler may free the packet data and throw an error without halting the rule processing engine. A subsequent rule can then allow the traffic after the packet data is gone, resulting in a NULL pointer…
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dereference. Maliciously crafted packets sent from a remote host may result in a Denial of Service (DoS) if the `tcp-setmss` directive is used and a subsequent rule would allow the traffic to pass.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and evaluation (including static analysis) directly finds null-dereference bugs before deployment.
Documented development standards and tools can enforce null-safety rules and safe pointer usage.
Engineering principles can mandate defensive coding such as explicit null checks before dereference.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices (static analysis, code review, safe coding standards) directly prevent NULL dereference bugs during development.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect NULL dereference defects before release.
Secure SDLC mandates defensive coding practices that can prevent NULL dereferences.
Application security requirements can specify input validation and pointer-safety rules.
Secure architecture principles encourage defensive design that avoids unsafe pointer use.
Secure coding standards directly require NULL-pointer checks and safe dereference patterns.