Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:HSummary
CVE-2026-7164 is a high-severity Uncontrolled Recursion (CWE-674) vulnerability in Freebsd Freebsd. Its CVSS base score is 7.5 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 36th 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 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SC-5 (Denial-of-service Protection) — 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-2026-7164 is a vulnerability in FreeBSD's pf packet filter that stems from incorrect packet validation during the parsing of SCTP chunk parameters. This flaw enables unbounded recursion, which can lead to a stack overflow and subsequent kernel panic. The issue affects any FreeBSD system where pf is configured to process traffic, regardless of the specific ruleset in use.
Remote, unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious SCTP packets that trigger the recursive parsing error. Successful exploitation results in a denial-of-service condition, causing the affected system to panic and potentially reboot. The CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H) reflects its network accessibility, low complexity, and high availability impact, with associated CWEs CWE-674 (Uncontrolled Recursion) and CWE-791 (Incomplete Filtering of Special Elements).
The FreeBSD security advisory at https://security.freebsd.org/advisories/FreeBSD-SA-26:14.pf.asc details mitigation steps and available patches for this vulnerability.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-26352
Vulnerability Data
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…
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process traffic, independent of the configured ruleset.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Input validation can reject or constrain data that would otherwise drive unbounded recursive calls.
DoS protection mechanisms limit the resource-exhaustion impact of uncontrolled recursion without eliminating the flaw.
System monitoring can observe anomalous resource consumption that signals runaway recursion after it begins.
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 directly prevent coding errors such as missing recursion limits or termination conditions.
Runtime monitoring of compute resources can detect excessive consumption caused by uncontrolled recursion.
Vulnerability identification processes can discover and record uncontrolled recursion flaws before deployment.
Capacity monitoring and resource provisioning can absorb or limit the impact of runaway recursion.
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 in development can detect excessive recursion via static analysis or fuzzing.
Secure development life cycle requires controls that prevent uncontrolled recursion through design and code review.
Application security requirements can mandate recursion limits or stack-depth checks.
Secure system architecture principles include resource-management and input-validation rules that limit recursion.
Secure coding standards directly prohibit or constrain recursive constructs that could exhaust stack or memory.
Capacity management includes monitoring and limits that mitigate resource exhaustion from runaway recursion.