Description
Netgate pfSense CE 2.7.0 through 2.9.0 contains a configuration injection vulnerability that allows authenticated users with IPsec Mobile privileges to execute commands as root via the login_banner field. Attackers can submit a single-line banner containing '}' to escape the unquoted strongswan.conf attr value and define charon.start-scripts entries that charon executes as root on restart.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netgate | pfSense CE | 2.7.0 – ≤ 2.9.0 | — |
Advisories 1
- WID-SEC-2026-3983 Netgate pfSense: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 15, 2026
References
- https://github.com/abraxas/pfsense-ipsec-login-banner exploit technical-description
- https://abraxaslabs.tech/research/pfsense-ce-leftovers technical-description
- https://abraxaslabs.tech/research/pfsense-ipsec-login-banner technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/9363ac5b8651a1c7a333180425ce7719070f95f9/src/etc/inc/ipsec.inc#L1361-L1388 technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/9363ac5b8651a1c7a333180425ce7719070f95f9/src/etc/inc/ipsec.inc#L1842-L1845 technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/blob/9363ac5b8651a1c7a333180425ce7719070f95f9/src/usr/local/www/vpn_ipsec_mobile.php#L269-L273 technical-description
- https://github.com/pfsense/pfsense/commit/27a52d0807 technical-description patch
- VulnCheck Advisory: Netgate pfSense CE 2.7.0 through 2.9.0 Command Injection via IPsec Mobile Login Banner third-party-advisory