Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-52481 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-52481 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-52481?
- High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.5, published 18 August 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- SJRC F11 SJ-GPS-PRO firmware build 2019-09-17.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-52481?
- No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
- How is CVE-2026-52481 attacked?
- It is attacked over the network, in device firmware.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-52481?
- Check whether you run SJRC F11 SJ-GPS-PRO at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
Technical details
This vulnerability is a hardcoded command injection flaw in the tcp_actions() function within the vs_play binary on the SJRC F11 firmware (build 2019-09-17). The vulnerable code checks if an incoming TCP packet on port 8888 begins with the bytes 0x64 0x61 ("da"), then passes the next 29 bytes directly to system() for execution with root privileges and no authentication checks. The attack vector is network-based and requires only access to the drone's open WiFi network (no WPA encryption), making exploitation trivial. An attacker can execute arbitrary commands as root, achieving full device compromise. The firmware is unpatched and based on a 2011-era Linux 3.0.8 kernel with known vulnerabilities.
Affected products
- SJRC F11 SJ-GPS-PRO firmware build 2019-09-17
Timeline
- 2026-05: other: Manufacturer notified by researcher Ashton Kopelevich (Texas A&M University)
- 2026-08-18: disclosed: Public disclosure via GitHub repository and CVE assignment
- 2026-05-17: other: Initial notification to SJRC