CVE-2013-1986
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 · uneditedMultiple integer overflows in X.org libXrandr 1.4.0 and earlier allow X servers to trigger allocation of insufficient memory and a buffer overflow via vectors related to the (1) XRRQueryOutputProperty and (2) XRRQueryProviderProperty functions.
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 confidenceInteger overflow vulnerability in libXrandr 1.4.0 and earlier where XRRQueryOutputProperty and XRRQueryProviderProperty functions fail to properly validate size parameters, causing insufficient memory allocation and subsequent buffer overflows when processing X server responses.
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<= 1.4.0= 1.2.3= 1.2.99.1= 1.2.99.2= 1.2.99.3= 1.2.99.4= 1.3.0= 1.3.1= 1.3.2CVSS 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
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
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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Identify installed libXrandr versionRun `dpkg -l libxrandr2` (Debian/Ubuntu), `rpm -q libXrandr` (RHEL/CentOS), or examine the library directly with `objdump -p /usr/lib/libXrandr.so* | grep -i version`Affected if The reported version is 1.4.0 or earlier, or matches any of these: 1.2.3, 1.2.99.1, 1.2.99.2, 1.2.99.3, 1.2.99.4, 1.3.0, 1.3.1, 1.3.2
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Locate libXrandr library fileRun `find /usr/lib -name 'libXrandr*' 2>/dev/null` to locate the library files installed on the systemAffected if No libXrandr library is found (not vulnerable, library not installed)
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Check for applications using XRRQueryOutputProperty or XRRQueryProviderPropertyAudit compiled binaries that link against libXrandr using `ldd` or `objdump -p` on suspected X client applications, or review application source code for calls to these functionsAffected if Any X client application that calls XRRQueryOutputProperty or XRRQueryProviderProperty is running with a vulnerable libXrandr version
You are affected if libXrandr version 1.4.0 or any affected specific version (1.2.3, 1.2.99.x through 1.3.2) is installed and any application using the vulnerable XRRQueryOutputProperty or XRRQueryProviderProperty functions is executed against a malicious or compromised X server.
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.
From vendor dataUpgrade libXrandr to a version newer than 1.4.0, or apply vendor patches if available. Given this is a client-side library vulnerability, ensuring the X server and all connected clients run updated library versions is required.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-1986 — 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-2013-1986 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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