CVE-2018-20179

Exp

rdesktop versions up to and including v1.8.3 contain an Integer Underflow that leads to a Heap-Based Buffer Overflow in the function lspci_process() and results in memory corruption and probably even a remote code execution.

Published: 2019-03-15 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2018-20179 is rated High Exploit Risk (86.1/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 7.52%, 91th percentile). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2018-20179

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
— nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-20179

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2025-12-29 7.65% 7.52% -0.13%
2 2025-11-21 7.52% 7.65% +0.13%
3 2025-11-18 — 7.52% —

Full EPSS history (16 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-20179

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.0 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
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.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/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:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
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.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-20179

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-20179

vendor priority summary link
alpine critical CVE-2018-20179: 1 source package rows (rdesktop); 11 state rows across 11 repos (3.10-main, 3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-community, 3.18-community, 3.19-community, 3.20-community, 3.21-community, 3.22-community, edge-community, edge-main); fixed 11, open 0. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2018-20179
debian not yet assigned CVE-2018-20179 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (rdesktop), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2018-20179
gentoo normal CVE-2018-20179: 1 GLSA(s) (201903-06), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/rdesktop); latest impact normal. https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-20179
redhat medium — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-20179
ubuntu medium CVE-2018-20179 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (rdesktop), 19 status rows across 19 suites (bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 14, needed 2, DNE 1, ignored 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2018-20179

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-20179

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
rdesktop rdesktop <= 1.8.3 cpe:2.3:a:rdesktop:rdesktop:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2018-20179

cvelogic Threat Intelligence