Cyber Resilience

CVE-2026-56000

Memory Safety in X.Org X Server ≤ 21.2.24

Published
08 July 2026
Modified
09 July 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v4 9.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
EPSS Score 0.0022 13th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2026-56000 is a critical-severity Use After Free (CWE-416) vulnerability in X.Org X Server. Its CVSS base score is 9.0 (Critical).

Operationally, ranked at the 13th 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 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-16 (Memory Protection) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Local attackers with a X connection able to provide GLX commit to the X server xorg-server before 21.2.24 and xwayland before 24.1.13 could cause a Heap Use After Free, due to CommonMakeCurrent() pointing into potentially reallocated memory.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

Insufficient information to map techniques.
Confidence: LOW · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-50260Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2026-50261Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2026-50263Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2026-50257Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2025-26601Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2025-26600Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2025-26594Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2023-1393Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2023-5574Same product: X.Org X Server
CVE-2023-5380Same product: X.Org X Server

Affected Assets

x.org
x server
≤ 21.2.24
x.org
xwayland
≤ 24.1.13

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)
  • AC-3 Access Enforcement
  • SI-16 Memory Protection
Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)
  • SI-7 Software, Firmware, and Information Integrity
Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 3 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.4.3

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

prevent

Enforces access-control decisions so that only authorized processes may issue GLX requests to the X server, directly blocking the local attacker vector described in CVE-2026-56000.

prevent

Applies memory-protection mechanisms that can detect or block use-after-free accesses in the X server’s CommonMakeCurrent() path.

detectrespond

Verifies the integrity of running X-server code and memory structures, enabling detection of corruption caused by the heap-use-after-free condition.

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 directly incorporate memory-safety tooling and reviews that prevent most use-after-free defects.

ID.RA-01 partial match
prevents

Vulnerability identification processes can discover use-after-free issues via scanning or analysis but do not prevent their introduction.

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Routine patching removes known use-after-free instances after they have been introduced in released software.

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.

detects

Security testing in development can detect use-after-free bugs before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free defects.

prevents

Application security requirements can specify memory-management rules that mitigate use-after-free.

prevents

Secure architecture principles include memory-safety design choices that limit use-after-free exposure.

prevents

Secure coding standards directly prescribe avoidance of use-after-free patterns.

prevents

Change-management processes help ensure memory-safety fixes are deployed consistently.

References