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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2014-0211

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v2.0 Published 2014-05-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.4.7 or later.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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 · unedited
Multiple integer overflows in the (1) fs_get_reply, (2) fs_alloc_glyphs, and (3) fs_read_extent_info functions in X.Org libXfont before 1.4.8 and 1.4.9x before 1.4.99.901 allow remote font servers to execute arbitrary code via a crafted xfs reply, which triggers a buffer overflow.

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 confidence

Multiple integer overflows in libXfont's font server reply processing functions (fs_get_reply, fs_alloc_glyphs, fs_read_extent_info) allow a malicious or compromised remote font server to send crafted xfs replies that trigger buffer overflows, potentially enabling arbitrary code execution on the X server client.

MitigationUpdate libXfont to version 1.4.8 or later (or 1.4.99.901+ for 1.4.99.x branches). If patching is delayed, isolate font servers on trusted networks and verify that only authorized font servers are contacted by X clients.

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
Affected:= 10.04= 12.04= 12.10= 13.10= 14.04
LibxfontApplication
Affected:<= 1.4.7= 1.2.3= 1.2.4= 1.2.5= 1.2.6= 1.2.7= 1.2.8= 1.2.9= 1.3.0= 1.3.1= 1.3.2= 1.3.3

CVSS 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
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
Partial
Integrity
Partial
Availability
Partial

AV:N/AC:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed libXfont version
    Run 'dpkg -l libxfont1' on Debian/Ubuntu systems, or check the library directly with 'ldconfig -p | grep -i libxfont' and then query the package manager for that library file
    Affected if The version listed is <= 1.4.7, or falls within 1.2.3-1.3.3 range, or matches any of the specific versions mentioned in the affected products list
  2. Determine if remote font server (xfs) is in use
    Inspect the X font server configuration file typically found at /etc/X11/fs/config or /etc/fs/config; also check for 'FontPath' entries in /etc/X11/xorg.conf or /etc/X11/xorg.conf.d/ that point to tcp:// hosts
    Affected if The configuration contains font server entries using tcp/hostname syntax (such as 'tcp/xfs.example.com:7100') rather than local directory paths only
  3. Verify X client connections to remote font servers
    Check the FONTSERVER environment variable ('echo $FONTSERVER') and look for X11 font server environment settings in startup scripts like /etc/profile, ~/.bashrc, or /etc/xinit/xinitrc
    Affected if The FONTSERVER variable points to a remote tcp address, or X is started with font server paths referencing remote hosts
  4. Confirm libXfont is loaded by X server
    Run 'ldd $(which X)' or 'ldd /usr/bin/X' to see if libXfont is linked, or use 'ps aux | grep X' to identify the X server process and then check its loaded libraries
    Affected if libXfont appears in the dependency list of the running X server process

You are affected if libXfont version is <= 1.4.7 (or 1.2.3-1.3.3) AND your X environment is configured to use or connect to a remote font server over the network.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.4.7
Interim mitigation

Update libXfont to version 1.4.8 or later (or 1.4.99.901+ for 1.4.99.x branches). If patching is delayed, isolate font servers on trusted networks and verify that only authorized font servers are contacted by X clients.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,590
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Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2014-0211 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data