CVE-2018-8798 [High] | Out-of-bounds Read in Rdesktop

CVE-2018-8798 is rated Moderate Risk (55.5/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.70%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-05-30	0.54%	0.70%	+0.16%
2	2025-11-21	0.98%	0.54%	-0.44%
3	2025-11-18	—	0.98%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-05-30

0.54%

0.70%

+0.16%

2025-11-21

0.98%

0.54%

-0.44%

2025-11-18

—

0.98%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.5	3.0	HIGH	`CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N` 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:N) Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	3.9	3.6	[email protected]
5.0	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N` 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:N) No integrity impact. Availability impact (A:N) No availability impact.	10.0	2.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.5

3.0

HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N 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:N): Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

3.9

3.6

[email protected]

5.0

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:N/A:N 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:N): No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N): No availability impact.

10.0

2.9

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-8798

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	high	CVE-2018-8798: 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-2018-8798
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2018-8798 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-2018-8798
`gentoo`	normal	CVE-2018-8798: 1 GLSA(s) (201903-06), 1 atom(s) (net-misc/rdesktop); latest impact normal.	https://bugs.gentoo.org/buglist.cgi?quicksearch=CVE-2018-8798
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2018-8798
`ubuntu`	low	CVE-2018-8798 low 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-2018-8798

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-8798

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:::::::*

References for CVE-2018-8798

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/	Third Party Advisory
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-06	Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4394	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2018-8798

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2018-8798

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2018-8798

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2018-8798

OS Trackers for CVE-2018-8798

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2018-8798

References for CVE-2018-8798