CVE-2026-32724: dronecode px4_drone_autopilot Use After Free

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-32724 is a medium (CVSS 5.3) Use After Free vulnerability in dronecode px4_drone_autopilot. EPSS estimates a 0.24% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 14.5% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 13-03-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 16-03-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc1, a heap-use-after-free is detected in the MavlinkShell::available() function. The issue is caused by a race condition between the MAVLink receiver thread (which handles shell creation/destruction) and the telemetry sender thread (which polls the shell for available output). The issue is remotely triggerable via MAVLink SERIAL_CONTROL messages (ID 126), which can be sent by an external ground station or automated script. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc1.

• CWE-416Use After FreeThe product reuses or references memory after it has been freed. At some point afterward, the memory may be allocated again and saved in another pointer, while the original pointer references a location somewhere within the new allocation. Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.