CVE-2026-76465
Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2026-76465 is a critical-severity Free of Memory not on the Heap (CWE-590) vulnerability in Cisco NX-OS Software (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 37th 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 SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SA-15 (Development Process, Standards, and Tools) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-94457
Vulnerability Data
A vulnerability in the MPLS Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) feature of Cisco NX-OS Software for Cisco Nexus 3000 Series Switches and Cisco Nexus 9000 Series Switches could allow an unauthenticated, remote attacker to execute arbitrary code with root privileges or…
more
cause a denial of service (DoS) condition on an affected device. This vulnerability is due to improper validation when an affected device is processing an MPLS echo-request packet. An attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted MPLS echo-request to an IP address on an affected device. A successful exploit could allow the attacker to execute arbitrary code with root privileges and could cause process crashes, which could result in a device reload and a DoS condition.
- 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 (static/dynamic analysis) can discover incorrect free() calls on non-heap memory.
Documented development standards and tools can require correct heap allocation/deallocation discipline, stopping the defect at introduction.
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 incorrect free() calls via code review, static analysis, and developer training.
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.
Secure development lifecycle mandates memory-safety practices that reduce use-after-free and invalid-free bugs.
A.8.27 mandates establishing and applying secure engineering principles (including secure-by-design, least privilege, hardening, and design reviews) but does not itself stop a free() of non-heap memory from being exploitable; the weakness can still be present and reached at runtime.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid freeing pointers not obtained from heap allocators, directly mitigating CWE-590.
Security testing in development can detect invalid-free defects before release.