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CVE-2018-20177

33
FAUCET Score

CVE-2018-20177 is a critical integer overflow vulnerability in rdesktop versions up to and including v1.8.3, leading to a heap-based buffer overflow in the rdp_in_unistr() function. This flaw can result in memory corruption and potentially remote code execution, affecting products like Debian, openSUSE, and rdesktop itself. With a CVSS score of 9.8 (Critical), it has a low attack complexity and requires no user interaction or privileges, allowing for complete compromise of confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Despite its severity, there is currently no evidence of active exploitation, public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), or significant community discussion or media coverage.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
<= 1.8.3CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:rdesktop:rdesktop:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
8.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
9.0CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
sle-15CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:backports:sle-15:sp1:*:*:*:*:*:*
15.1CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

9.8CRITICAL

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
HIGH
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
HIGH
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
5.9
CvssVersion
3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
7.93%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
94.1%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-24
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0793 is in the 89th percentile among its peer group of 36,829 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.3 Bluesky, 0.3 Mastodon, and 2.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.0 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (3)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference
View patch
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5Fixed in: rdesktop
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Fixed in: rdesktop

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2018-20177Moderate

rdesktop: Memory corruption in rdp_in_unistr

Jan 4, 2019

References

lists.opensuse.org / opensuse-security-announce/2019-09/msg00040.html
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
github.com / rdesktop/rdesktop/commit/4dca546d04321a610c1835010b5dad85163b65e1
Patch
lists.debian.org / debian-lts-announce/2019/02/msg00030.html
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
research.checkpoint.com / reverse-rdp-attack-code-execution-on-rdp-clients
ExploitThird Party Advisory
security.gentoo.org / glsa/201903-06
Third Party Advisory
debian.org / security/2019/dsa-4394
Third Party Advisory
securityfocus.com / bid/106938
Broken LinkThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry