CVE-2017-18266 [High] | Security Vulnerability in Xdg-Utils

CVE-2017-18266 is rated High Risk (65.5/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 2.47%). EPSS rose +1.47% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	1.00%	2.47%	+1.47%
2	2025-12-28	1.31%	1.00%	-0.30%
3	2025-12-27	—	1.31%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

1.00%

2.47%

+1.47%

2025-12-28

1.31%

1.00%

-0.30%

2025-12-27

—

1.31%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.8	3.0	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:N) Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine. Attack complexity (AC:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:N) No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:U) Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.9	[email protected]
6.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.8

3.0

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand

Attack vector (AV:N): Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N): No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:U): Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.9

[email protected]

6.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-18266

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2017-18266 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (xdg-utils), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2017-18266
`redhat`	low	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-18266
`suse`	medium	—	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2017-18266/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2017-18266 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (xdg-utils), 5 status rows across 5 suites (artful, bionic, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 4, needs-triage 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2017-18266

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-18266

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
freedesktop	xdg-utils	< 1.1.3	cpe:2.3:a:freedesktop:xdg-utils::::::::
debian	debian_linux	7.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:7.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	8.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	9.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:::::::*
canonical	ubuntu_linux	14.04	cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:14.04::::lts:::
canonical	ubuntu_linux	16.04	cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04::::lts:::
canonical	ubuntu_linux	17.10	cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:17.10:::::::*
canonical	ubuntu_linux	18.04	cpe:2.3:o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04::::lts:::

References for CVE-2017-18266

URL	Tags
https://bugs.freedesktop.org/show_bug.cgi?id=103807	Issue Tracking Patch
https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xdg/xdg-utils/commit/?id=5647afb35e4bcba2060148e1a2a47bc43cc240f2	Release Notes
https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xdg/xdg-utils/commit/?id=ce802d71c3466d1dbb24f2fe9b6db82a1f899bcb	Patch
https://cgit.freedesktop.org/xdg/xdg-utils/tree/ChangeLog	Release Notes
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/05/msg00014.html	Third Party Advisory
https://usn.ubuntu.com/3650-1/	Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2018/dsa-4211	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2017-18266

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2017-18266

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2017-18266

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2017-18266

OS Trackers for CVE-2017-18266

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2017-18266

References for CVE-2017-18266