PX4 Autopilot contains a heap buffer overflow vulnerability in the sdbench command that writes a four-byte block number into a user-supplied sized allocation. Attackers can invoke sdbench with a block size below four bytes to overflow the heap buffer and potentially execute code or crash the system.

The MAVLink communication protocol does not require cryptographic authentication by default. When MAVLink 2.0 message signing is not enabled, any message -- including SERIALCONTROL, which provides interactive shell access -- can be sent by an unauthenticated party with access to the MAVLink interface. PX4 provides MAVLink 2.0 message signing as the cryptographic authentication mechanism for all MAVLink communication. When signing is enabled, unsigned messages are rejected at the protocol level.

PX4 is an open-source autopilot stack for drones and unmanned vehicles. Versions 1.17.0-rc2 and below are vulnerable to Stack-based Buffer Overflow through the MavlinkLogHandler, and are triggered via MAVLink log request. The LogEntry.filepath buffer is 60 bytes, but the sscanf function parses paths from the log list file with no width specifier, allowing a path longer than 60 characters to overflow the buffer. An attacker with MAVLink link access can trigger this by first creating deeply nested directories via MAVLink FTP, then requesting the log list. The flight controller MAVLink task crashes, losing telemetry and command capability and causing DoS. This issue has been fixed in this commit: https://github.com/PX4/PX4-Autopilot/commit/616b25a280e229c24d5cf12a03dbf248df89c474.

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 SERIALCONTROL messages (ID 126), which can be sent by an external ground station or automated script. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc1.

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc2, A logic error in the PX4 Autopilot MAVLink FTP session validation uses incorrect boolean logic (&& instead of ||), allowing BurstReadFile and WriteFile operations to proceed with invalid sessions or closed file descriptors. This enables an unauthenticated attacker to put the FTP subsystem into an inconsistent state, trigger operations on invalid file descriptors, and bypass session isolation checks. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc2.

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc2, An unauthenticated path traversal vulnerability in the PX4 Autopilot MAVLink FTP implementation allows any MAVLink peer to read, write, create, delete, and rename arbitrary files on the flight controller filesystem without authentication. On NuttX targets, the FTP root directory is an empty string, meaning attacker-supplied paths are passed directly to filesystem syscalls with no prefix or sanitization for read operations. On POSIX targets (Linux companion computers, SITL), the write-path validation function unconditionally returns true, providing no protection. A TOCTOU race condition in the write validation on NuttX further allows bypassing the only existing guard. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc2.

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc2, the Zenoh uORB subscriber allocates a stack VLA directly from the incoming payload length without bounds. A remote Zenoh publisher can send an oversized fragmented message to force an unbounded stack allocation and copy, causing a stack overflow and crash of the Zenoh bridge task. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc2.

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc2, tattucan contains an unbounded memcpy in its multi-frame assembly loop, allowing stack memory overwrite when crafted CAN frames are processed. In deployments where tattucan is enabled and running, a CAN-injection-capable attacker can trigger a crash (DoS) and memory corruption. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc2.

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc2, The crsfrc parser accepts an oversized variable-length known packet and copies it into a fixed 64-byte global buffer without a bounds check. In deployments where crsfrc is enabled on a CRSF serial port, an adjacent/raw-serial attacker can trigger memory corruption and crash PX4. This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc2.

PX4 autopilot is a flight control solution for drones. Prior to 1.17.0-rc2, the BST telemetry probe writes a string terminator using a device-provided length without bounds. A malicious BST device can report an oversized devnamelen, causing a stack overflow in the driver and crashing the task (or enabling code execution). This vulnerability is fixed in 1.17.0-rc2.

PX4 Autopilot versions 1.12.x through 1.15.x contain a logic flaw in the mode switching mechanism. When switching from Auto mode to Manual mode while the drone is in the "ARMED" state (after landing and before the automatic disarm triggered by the COMDISARMLAND parameter), the system lacks a throttle threshold safety check for the physical throttle stick. This flaw can directly cause the drone to lose control, experience rapid uncontrolled ascent (flyaway), and result in property damage

PX4 Autopilot versions 1.12.x through 1.15.x contain a protection mechanism failure in the "Re-arm Grace Period" logic. The system incorrectly applies the in-air emergency re-arm logic to ground scenarios. If a pilot switches to Manual mode and re-arms within 5 seconds (default configuration) of an automatic landing, the system bypasses all pre-flight safety checks, including the throttle threshold check. This allows for an immediate high-thrust takeoff if the throttle stick is raised, leading to loss of control.

A vulnerability was found in PX4 PX4-Autopilot up to 1.15.4. This issue affects the function MavlinkReceiver::handlemessageserialcontrol of the file src/modules/mavlink/mavlinkreceiver.cpp of the component Mavlink Shell Closing Handler. The manipulation of the argument mavlinkshell leads to use after free. An attack has to be approached locally. The complexity of an attack is rather high. The exploitation is known to be difficult. The identifier of the patch is 4395d4f00c49b888f030f5b43e2a779f1fa78708. It is recommended to apply a patch to fix this issue.

A vulnerability was found in PX4-Autopilot 1.12.3. It has been classified as problematic. This affects the function MavlinkReceiver::handlemessagetrajectoryrepresentationwaypoints of the file mavlinkreceiver.cpp of the component TRAJECTORYREPRESENTATIONWAYPOINTS Message Handler. The manipulation leads to stack-based buffer overflow. Local access is required to approach this attack. The exploit has been disclosed to the public and may be used.

Stack Buffer Overflow in PX4-Autopilot v1.14.3, which allows attackers to execute commands to exploit this vulnerability and cause the program to refuse to execute

PX4-Autopilot v1.14.3 was discovered to contain a buffer overflow via the topicname parameter at /logger/loggedtopics.cpp.

A buffer overflow in PX4-Autopilot v1.12.3 allows attackers to cause a Denial of Service (DoS) via a crafted MavLink message.

PX4 Autopilot v.1.14 allows an attacker to fly the drone into no-fly zones by breaching the geofence using flaws in the function.

An issue in PX4 Autopilot v1.14 and before allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary code and cause a denial of service via the Breach Return Point function.

An issue in PX4 Autopilot v.1.14.0 allows an attacker to manipulate the flight path allowing for crashes of the drone via the home point location of the missionblock.cpp component.