CVE-2026-44194: opnsense vulnerability

What is known

OPNsense is a FreeBSD based firewall and routing platform. Prior to 26.1.8, an authenticated Remote Code Execution (RCE) vulnerability in the OPNsense core allows a user with user-management privileges to execute arbitrary system commands as root. An attacker can bypass input validation by formatting their malicious payload as a compliant email address, allowing shell commands to reach the underlying operating system. The flaw exists in the local user synchronization flow, within core/src/opnsense/scripts/auth/sync_user.php. This vulnerability is fixed in 26.1.8.

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2026-44194, a critical vulnerability (CVSS 9.1) affecting opnsense, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether opnsense is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
• Reference