rdesktop versions up to and including v1.8.3 contain a Buffer Overflow over the global variables in the function seamless_process_line() that results in memory corruption and probably even a remote code execution.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2018-20182 is rated High Exploit Risk (86.5/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 9.90%, 93th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: 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.
| EDB-ID | Source | Kind | Published | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | nvd_ref | exploit_tag | Exploit-DB ↗ |
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 | 10.07% | 9.90% | -0.17% |
| 2 | 2025-11-21 | 18.55% | 10.07% | -8.48% |
| 3 | 2025-11-18 | — | 18.55% | — |
Full EPSS history (16 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9.8 | 3.0 | CRITICAL |
|
3.9 | 5.9 | [email protected] |
| 7.5 | 2.0 | HIGH |
|
10.0 | 6.4 | [email protected] |
| vendor | priority | summary | link |
|---|---|---|---|
alpine
|
critical | CVE-2018-20182: 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-2018-20182 |
debian
|
not yet assigned | CVE-2018-20182 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-2018-20182 |
gentoo
|
normal | CVE-2018-20182: 1 GLSA(s) (201903-06), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/rdesktop); latest impact normal. | https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-20182 |
redhat
|
medium | — | https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-20182 |
ubuntu
|
medium | CVE-2018-20182 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-2018-20182 |
| Vendor | Product | Version | Raw CPE |
|---|---|---|---|
| rdesktop | rdesktop | <= 1.8.3 | cpe:2.3:a:rdesktop:rdesktop:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| 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:*:*:*:*:*:*:* |
| URL | Tags |
|---|---|
| http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00040.html | |
| http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106938 | Third Party Advisory VDB Entry |
| https://github.com/rdesktop/rdesktop/commit/4dca546d04321a610c1835010b5dad85163b65e1 | Patch Third Party Advisory |
| https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/02/msg00030.html | Mailing List Third Party Advisory |
| https://research.checkpoint.com/reverse-rdp-attack-code-execution-on-rdp-clients/ | Exploit Third Party Advisory |
| https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-06 | Third Party Advisory |
| https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4394 | Third Party Advisory |