Infrastructure
CVE-2026-88772
RCE/DoS in Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway allowing full system compromise.
Major vulnerability. Widely deployed Citrix NetScaler ADC/Gateway with RCE (CVSS 9.5) and listed in CISA KEV — enterprise‑wide impact requiring immediate remediation.
- CVSS
- 9.5Criticalscored by the publisher (CNA)
- Exploited in the wild
- Yes, in CISA KEV since 27 Sept 2026CISA deadline for US federal agencies: 30 Sept 2026public exploit code
- EPSS
- 76.6%chance of exploitation in the next 30 daystop 0.5% of scored CVEsFIRST score of 12 Nov 2026
- Fix
- Patch availablesee the advisories in the references
- Published
- 27 Sept 2026analysed here 28 Sept 2026
Do first. Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines. (CISA's required action for this KEV entry)
Summary
Impact
Remote code execution or denial of service via memory‑buffer overflow on NetScaler, enabling full system compromise, persistent backdoors, or service outages.
Triage
The summary, impact and action text on this page are written by our AI analysis pipeline, or taken from the NVD description when a CVE was imported from NVD. They are not the vendor's wording: check them against the sources. A longer AI executive summary and technical analysis are generated for signed-in accounts on the Max plan.
Affected products
| Product | Affected versions | Vendor says fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| Citrix NetScaler ADC | < 14.1-73.37< 13.1-64.23< 14.1-73.37 FIPS< 13.1.37.279 FIPS and NDcPPVendor says fixed in: not stated | |
| Citrix NetScaler Gateway | < 14.1-73.37< 13.1-64.23Vendor says fixed in: not stated |
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.
Products named in our analysis
- Citrix NetScaler ADC (versions before 14.1-73.37, before 13.1-64.23; FIPS/NDcPP variants)
- Citrix NetScaler Gateway (versions before 14.1-73.37, before 13.1-64.23)
Fix and mitigation
Action required
Immediate action required
WAF and other mitigations
Can a WAF block it? No. This is a memory-corruption bug. Generic WAF rules do not recognise the input that triggers it; only a rule written for this specific CVE can, and only if the triggering request has a recognisable shape.
Also consider: patch
Based on the weakness type only; no CVE-specific evidence yet. We check Cloudflare, AWS, Google Cloud Armor and Azure; for Akamai, Imperva, Fastly, F5, ask your vendor.
Remediation steps (AI-written)
Step-by-step remediation is generated for accounts on the Max plan, for CVEs that match a technology in their stack. Add this technology to your stack to see the fix checklist.
Exploitation evidence
- CISA KEV catalog
- Listed since 27 Sept 2026.
- CISA due date
- 30 Sept 2026, the remediation deadline for US federal agencies
- CISA required action
- Apply mitigations in accordance with vendor instructions, ensuring compliance with CISA’s BOD 26-04 Prioritizing Security Updates Based on Risk (see URL in Notes) guidance and CISA’s “Forensics Triage Requirements” (see URL in Notes). Follow applicable BOD 26-04 guidance for cloud services or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable. Stakeholders are responsible for evaluating each asset's internet exposure and ensuring adherence to BOD 26-04 patching guidelines.
- Public exploit code
- Yes: 1 Metasploit module · 4 GitHub proofs of concept
- CISA SSVC
- exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact totalAssessed by CISA 27 Sept 2026 (SSVC 2.0.3). Exploitation is none, poc (public proof of concept) or active.
Metasploit
- exploit/freebsd/http/citrix_netscaler_cve_2026_88771exploit, rank normal
GitHub proofs of concept
Listed so you can judge urgency, not as a recommendation to run anything. GitHub “proofs of concept” are unvetted: some are fake or carry malware. Exploit-DB marks the entries its staff verified.
Timeline
- 27 Sept 2026Added to CISA KEV (exploited in the wild)
- 27 Sept 2026First public exploit or proof of conceptsame day later
- 27 Sept 2026CISA SSVC assessment: exploitation activesame day later
- 27 Sept 2026Published1 day later
- 28 Sept 2026CVE record last updatedsame day later
- 28 Sept 2026Analysed by vulneraibility.comsame day later
- 30 Sept 2026CISA remediation due date (US federal agencies)2 days later
Common questions
Is CVE-2026-88772 being exploited?
Yes. CVE-2026-88772 appears in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed and reported. Treat it as active rather than theoretical, and patch it ahead of higher-scoring vulnerabilities that carry no exploitation evidence.
How severe is CVE-2026-88772?
CVE-2026-88772 is rated Critical with a CVSS score of 9.5. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-88772?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-88772. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-88772 affect?
CVE-2026-88772 affects Citrix NetScaler ADC (versions before 14.1-73.37, before 13.1-64.23; FIPS/NDcPP variants), Citrix NetScaler Gateway (versions before 14.1-73.37, before 13.1-64.23). Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-88772?
Install Citrix fixes (14.1-73.37 / 13.1-64.23 or later) or apply vendor mitigations immediately.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
References
2 references in the CVE record, grouped by the tags the record gives them.
Other links (2)
- support.citrix.com /support-home/kbsearch/article?articleNumber=CTX697096&articleTitle=Citrix_NetSc
- cisa.gov /known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-88772
Where the data on this page comes from
- CVE List (CVE.org): description, affected versions, references; CVE Terms of Use
- NVD: CVSS and CPE data
- CISA KEV catalog: exploitation, date added, due date
- CISA Vulnrichment (ADP): SSVC decision points
- FIRST EPSS: exploit probability and percentile
- Metasploit Framework: exploit and scanner modules
- PoC-in-GitHub: GitHub repositories that claim a proof of concept
Summary, impact and triage tags: written by our AI analysis pipeline from the sources above. Check them against the sources.
Similar CVEs
Get CVEs like this by email. Join the free digest: the CVEs we flag as major, all CVSS 8.0 or higher, in up to three emails a day (sent at 05:00, 11:00 and 15:00 UTC). Matching alerts to the products you run needs an account, and accounts are invite-only during the beta.