CVE-2026-42859
Neat VNC: Buffer overflow due to oversized RSA public keys
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- None
- User interaction
- None
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
8.1
Neat VNC: Buffer overflow due to oversized RSA public keys
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
- Record
CVE-2026-42859- CVSS 4.0
- 8.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U - Weakness
- CWE-120
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2026-29167
8.1
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
- Record
EUVD-2026-29167- CVSS 4.0
- 8.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U - Updated
- 2026-11-02
NVD
8.1
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
- Record
CVE-2026-42859- CVSS 4.0
- 8.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Weakness
- CWE-120
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSV
8.1
Neat VNC: Buffer overflow due to oversized RSA public keys
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
- Record
CVE-2026-42859- CVSS 4.0
- 8.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U - Weakness
- CWE-120
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVDEBIAN-CVE-2026-42859
8.1
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
- Record
DEBIAN-CVE-2026-42859- CVSS 4.0
- 8.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2026-42859
8.1
Neat VNC is a VNC server library. Prior to 0.9.6, a pre-authentication stack buffer overflow exists in neatvnc in the RSA-AES security type handler. An unauthenticated remote attacker who can reach the VNC listening socket can send a crafted security type 5 (RSA-AES) or security type 129 (RSA-AES-256) handshake with an oversized client RSA public key, causing rsa_aes_send_challenge in src/auth/rsa-aes.c to overflow a 1024-byte on-stack buffer when encrypting the server challenge. This results in at least a denial of service via server crash. This vulnerability is fixed in 0.9.6.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2026-42859- CVSS 4.0
- 8.1 High
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U - Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
neatvncDebian:12 |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.5.4+dfsg-10.5.4+dfsg-2~exp10.6.0+dfsg-10.6.0+dfsg-20.6.0+dfsg-3 Show 12 moreShow less0.6.0+dfsg-40.7.0+dfsg-10.7.0+dfsg-1~exp10.7.1+dfsg-10.7.1+dfsg-20.8.0+dfsg-10.8.0+dfsg-20.8.0+dfsg-30.9.1+dfsg-10.9.1+dfsg-1.11.0.0+dfsg-1~exp11.0.1+dfsg-1 |
None known |
neatvncDebian:13 |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.9.1+dfsg-10.9.1+dfsg-1.11.0.0+dfsg-1~exp11.0.1+dfsg-1 |
None known |
neatvncDebian:14 |
before 0.9.1+dfsg-1.1, plus listed versions 0.9.1+dfsg-1 |
0.9.1+dfsg-1.1 |
neatvncUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.4.0+dfsg-2 |
None known |
neatvncUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.6.0+dfsg-4build10.7.0+dfsg-10.7.1+dfsg-10.7.1+dfsg-20.7.1+dfsg-2build20.7.1+dfsg-2build3 |
None known |
neatvncUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.9.1+dfsg-1 |
None known |
neatvncUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.9.1+dfsg-1build10.9.1+dfsg-1.11.0.1+dfsg-1 |
None known |
neatvncUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 0.9.1+dfsg-10.9.1+dfsg-1build1 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| first indexed | CVE List, EUVD, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2026-42859 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 8.1) in Any1 Neatvnc, published May 11, 2026. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.63%, the 50th percentile. Fixed in neatvnc 0.9.1+dfsg-1.1.
References
github.com/any1/neatvnc/security/advisories/GHSA-567c-gpv8-qh9h
github.com/any1/neatvnc/commit/1f6cd6b75cc167fed3a19a9d1552a1f662f6b337
github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/42xxx/CVE-2026-42859.json
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42859
security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-42859
ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-42859
cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-42859