Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system · Redhat
CVE-2014-8241
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 · uneditedXRegion in TigerVNC allows remote VNC servers to cause a denial of service (NULL pointer dereference) by leveraging failure to check a malloc return value, a similar issue to CVE-2014-6052.
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 confidenceXRegion in TigerVNC contains a NULL pointer dereference vulnerability where failure to check malloc return values allows a malicious VNC server to cause client crashes. When memory allocation fails, the unchecked NULL pointer is dereferenced, resulting in denial of service.
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
Enterprise Linux DesktopOperating system
= 7.0
Enterprise Linux Hpc NodeOperating system
= 7.0
Enterprise Linux ServerOperating system
= 7.0
Enterprise Linux WorkstationOperating system
= 7.0all versionsCVSS 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:3.0/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.
-
Verify TigerVNC installationCheck if TigerVNC client is installed by running 'rpm -qa | grep -i vnc' on RHEL systems or 'dpkg -l | grep -i vnc' on Debian-based systemsAffected if TigerVNC package is present on the system
-
Identify TigerVNC versionRun 'vncviewer --version' or 'rpm -q tigervnc' to determine the installed version numberAffected if Version is all versions of Tigervnc (any version less than patched) or any RHEL 7.0 system with TigerVNC installed
-
Confirm XRegion component presenceInspect the TigerVNC installation directory (typically /usr/bin/vncviewer or /usr/local/bin/vncviewer) and verify the binary existsAffected if The vncviewer binary is present, indicating the vulnerable XRegion code may be in use
-
Assess VNC client usage exposureDetermine if the system runs as a VNC client connecting to remote VNC servers - check for VNC client configurations, desktop shortcuts, or VNC viewer binariesAffected if The system runs TigerVNC client to connect to VNC servers, allowing a malicious server to trigger the NULL pointer dereference
A system is affected if it has TigerVNC client installed (any version on RHEL 7.0 or all TigerVNC versions) and is used to connect to remote VNC servers, as the vulnerability is triggered when a malicious VNC server causes malloc to fail and the NULL pointer is dereferenced in XRegion.
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 TigerVNC to a version that addresses CVE-2014-8241 and CVE-2014-6052, or apply the corresponding patch that adds proper malloc return value validation in XRegion.
Fix this in Enterprise Linux Desktop
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,144.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8241 — 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-2014-8241 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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