CVE-2026-97205: f5 nginx open source Use After Free

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-97205 is a critical (CVSS 9.2) Use After Free vulnerability in f5 nginx open source. EPSS estimates a 0.44% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 36.9% of scored vulnerabilities.

Timeline

1. 14-10-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 15-10-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

NGINX Plus and NGINX Open Source have a vulnerability in the ngx_http_core_module module. When asynchronous file I/O (AIO) is enabled in certain configurations, processing a Server Side Includes (SSI) page containing “include virtual” commands may trigger a Use-After-Free (UAF) in the NGINX worker process. This may cause memory corruption or a worker process crash. Additionally, attackers can execute code on systems with Address Space Layout Randomization (ASLR) disabled or when the attacker can bypass ASLR. Impact: This vulnerability may allow remote attackers to cause a denial-of-service (DoS) on the NGINX system, corrupt its memory, or possibly trigger code execution. There is no control plane exposure; this is a data plane issue only. Note: Software versions which have reached End of Technical Support (EoTS) are not evaluated.

• 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 Any operations using the original pointer are no longer valid because the memory "belongs" to the code that operates on the new pointer.