Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-44040

Uvnc Ultravnc ≤ 1.8.2.2

Published
01 July 2026
Modified
09 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 4.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0028 21th percentile
Risk Priority 35 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-44040 is a medium-severity PRNG (CWE-338) vulnerability in Uvnc Ultravnc. Its CVSS base score is 4.8 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique VNC (T1021.005); ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SC-12 (Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management) and SC-13 (Cryptographic Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

UltraVNC through 1.8.2.2 uses a cryptographically weak pseudo-random number generator to produce VNC authentication challenge bytes. In rfb/vncauth.c:119-129, the vncRandomBytes() function seeds libc rand() with time(0) + getpid() + rand() and generates a 16-byte challenge. The combined seed space is…

more

approximately 31 bits (libc rand() internal state) and is entirely determined by publicly-observable values (wall-clock time and process ID). An attacker who can observe the authentication exchange can enumerate the seed space and predict the challenge within seconds, enabling forgery or offline brute-forcing of responses. Note: on Windows, the active code path may use vncEncryptBytes2.cpp which calls CryptGenRandom; reachability on shipped Windows binaries requires compile-graph verification and is under investigation.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1021.005 VNC Lateral Movement
Adversaries may use [Valid Accounts](https://attack.
T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
Why these techniques?

Weak VNC challenge generation directly enables unauthorized remote access via VNC (T1021.005) and abuse of external remote desktop services (T1133).

Confidence: MEDIUM · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-7830Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-7838Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-44042Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-7829Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-7839Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-7831Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-7840Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-44041Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-7828Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc
CVE-2026-3787Same product: Uvnc Ultravnc

Affected Assets

uvnc
ultravnc
≤ 1.8.2.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • SC-13 Cryptographic Protection
  • SC-12 Cryptographic Key Establishment and Management
  • IA-5 Authenticator Management
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V7.2.3
  • V11.5.1

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Mandates use of FIPS-validated cryptographic modules and approved random-bit generators, directly eliminating the weak libc-rand seeding used for VNC challenges.

prevent

Requires cryptographically strong key/nonce establishment and management practices, which encompass the generation of unpredictable authentication challenges.

prevent

Specifies secure generation, distribution and management of authenticators, covering the creation of VNC challenge bytes that must resist prediction.

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.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices explicitly require cryptographically strong RNG selection and usage in security contexts.

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.

prevents

Mandates use of approved cryptographic controls, directly requiring cryptographically strong RNGs.

detects

Security testing can detect use of weak random number generators.

prevents

Secure SDLC processes should catch weak PRNG usage during design and code review.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify cryptographically strong random number generation.

prevents

Secure engineering principles include selection of appropriate cryptographic primitives.

prevents

Secure coding standards prohibit use of weak PRNGs in security contexts.

References