PX4 Autopilot up to 1.17.0 load_mon exit_and_cleanup use after free

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability was found in PX4 Autopilot up to 1.17.0. It has been rated as critical. This issue affects the function exit_and_cleanup of the component load_mon. Performing a manipulation results in use after free. This vulnerability is reported as CVE-2026-86713. The attack is possible to be carried out remotely. No exploit exists.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in PX4 Autopilot up to 1.17.0. It has been classified as critical. This affects the function exit_and_cleanup of the component load_mon. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a use after free vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-416. Referencing memory after it has been freed can cause a program to crash, use unexpected values, or execute code. This is going to have an impact on integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

PX4 Autopilot through 1.17.0 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in the load_mon module's stop path where exit_and_cleanup() deletes the LoadMon object and frees the performance counter before perf_end() attempts to access it. Attackers can trigger this vulnerability by issuing the load_mon stop command from any PXH or MAVLink shell, causing reads and writes through freed memory that corrupt heap objects and destabilize the flight stack.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is uniquely identified as CVE-2026-86713 since 09/08/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. No form of authentication is needed for exploitation. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 09/08/2026).

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Vendor

• PX4

Name

• Autopilot

Version

• 1.0
• 1.1
• 1.2
• 1.3
• 1.4
• 1.5
• 1.6
• 1.7
• 1.8
• 1.9
• 1.10
• 1.11
• 1.12
• 1.13
• 1.14
• 1.15
• 1.16
• 1.17.0

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.

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