Debian LinuxOperating system · Debian
CVE-2011-0703
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedIn gksu-polkit before 0.0.3, the source file for xauth may contain arbitrary commands that may allow an attacker to overtake an administrator X11 session.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceIn gksu-polkit before version 0.0.3, the xauth source file can contain arbitrary commands that get executed, allowing an attacker to inject malicious commands and overtake an administrator X11 session. This is a command injection vulnerability in how gksu-polkit processes xauth data for privilege escalation.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 6.0< 0.0.3CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if gksu-polkit is installedQuery the package manager for gksu-polkit (e.g., dpkg -l gksu-polkit, rpm -q gksu-polkit, or apt-cache policy gksu-polkit)Affected if The package is installed and the command returns a version number
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Determine the installed versionRun dpkg -l | grep gksu-polkit or rpm -qi gksu-polkit to extract the exact version stringAffected if The version number is lower than 0.0.3 (e.g., 0.0.2, 0.0.1, or any pre-0.0.3 release)
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Verify the vulnerability code path existsInspect the gksu-polkit binary or source for the xauth processing logic (typically handles X11 authentication data)Affected if The binary uses xauth data without sanitization for privilege escalation operations
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Check if the system uses gksu-polkit for X11 privilege escalationReview system logs or configuration files that reference gksu-polkit for running graphical applications as rootAffected if gksu-polkit is actively used to escalate privileges in X11 sessions
A system is affected if gksu-polkit with version lower than 0.0.3 is installed and used for xauth-based privilege escalation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped0.0.3
Upgrade gksu-polkit to version 0.0.3 or later. If immediate upgrade is not feasible, audit systems for unauthorized access and consider using alternative privilege escalation mechanisms until the patch can be applied.
gksu-polkit version 0.0.3 or later on Debian 6.0
- Check the current version of gksu-polkit installed: dpkg -l | grep gksu-polkit
- Update the package lists: apt-get update
- Upgrade gksu-polkit to version 0.0.3 or later: apt-get install gksu-polkit=0.0.3
- Verify the installed version: dpkg -l | grep gksu-polkit
- Ensure the version is 0.0.3 or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Debian Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2011-0703 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2011-0703 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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