Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2013-1987
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 libXrender 0.9.7 and earlier allow X servers to trigger allocation of insufficient memory and a buffer overflow via vectors related to the (1) XRenderQueryFilters, (2) XRenderQueryFormats, and (3) XRenderQueryPictIndexValues 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 confidenceMultiple integer overflow vulnerabilities exist in libXrender versions 0.9.7 and earlier within three functions (XRenderQueryFilters, XRenderQueryFormats, XRenderQueryPictIndexValues). These overflows allow malicious X servers to trigger allocation of insufficient memory, leading to buffer overflows when processing query 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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 10.04= 12.04= 12.10= 13.04= 12.2= 12.3<= 0.9.7= 0.9.1= 0.9.2= 0.9.3= 0.9.4= 0.9.5= 0.9.6CVSS 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 libXrender versionRun 'dpkg -l libxrender1' on Debian/Ubuntu systems, 'rpm -q libXrender' on RHEL-based systems, or check the library file directly with 'strings /usr/lib/libXrender.so.* | grep -i version' or via package manager metadataAffected if The installed version is 0.9.7 or earlier, or matches any of the specific affected versions 0.9.1 through 0.9.6
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Confirm library file presenceLocate the libXrender shared library on the system using 'find /usr -name "libXrender*" -type f' or 'ldconfig -p | grep Xrender'Affected if The library exists but is an unpatched version 0.9.7 or earlier
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Check for client applications using libXrenderIdentify X client applications on the system that link against libXrender using 'ldd /usr/bin/* 2>/dev/null | grep Xrender' or by checking application dependenciesAffected if Applications using libXrender are present and connect to untrusted X servers, making them vulnerable to malicious server responses
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Verify X server trust contextReview the environment for connections to untrusted or remote X servers by checking DISPLAY variable settings and X server access controls with 'xauth list'Affected if The system runs X clients that connect to remote or untrusted X servers, enabling the malicious server to trigger the integer overflow during query responses
A user is affected if libXrender version 0.9.7 or earlier is installed and X client applications using this library connect to any X server, whether local or remote.
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 dataUpdate libXrender to a version newer than 0.9.7 or apply available vendor patches to address the integer overflow vulnerabilities in the affected XRenderQuery functions.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,752.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2013-1987 — 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-2013-1987 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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