CVE-2014-8651
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 · uneditedThe KDE Clock KCM policykit helper in kde-workspace before 4.11.14 and plasma-desktop before 5.1.1 allows local users to gain privileges via a crafted ntpUtility (ntp utility name) argument.
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 confidenceThe KDE Clock KCM policykit helper in kde-workspace before 4.11.14 and plasma-desktop before 5.1.1 contains a local privilege escalation vulnerability. The helper accepts a crafted 'ntpUtility' argument that allows an unprivileged local user to execute arbitrary code with elevated (root) privileges via improper handling of the ntp utility path or parameters.
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<= 5.1<= 4.11.13CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Complete
- Integrity
- Complete
- Availability
- Complete
AV:L/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C
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 installed KDE workspace or Plasma Desktop versionRun 'kde-config --version' or check your package manager for installed kde-workspace or plasma-desktop versionAffected if Version is kde-workspace <= 4.11.13 or plasma-desktop <= 5.1 (any version at or below these thresholds)
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Locate the KDE Clock KCM policykit helper binarySearch for 'kcm_clock' or 'kde-clock' policykit helper files in /usr/lib/ or /usr/lib64/ directory, or check for files named 'kcm_clock_helper' or similar in the KDE system directoriesAffected if The policykit helper binary exists on the system
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Check policykit configuration for the clock KCM helperExamine /usr/share/polkit-1/actions/ or look for .policy files related to clock or time configuration using 'find /usr -name "*.policy" | xargs grep -l "clock"'Affected if A policykit action exists for the KDE Clock NTP configuration that is accessible to unprivileged users
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Verify if NTP configuration UI is enabled in KDE ClockOpen KDE System Settings, look for Date & Time or Clock settings, and check if NTP server configuration is exposed or available to non-admin usersAffected if NTP configuration is available through the KDE Clock interface to standard users
Your system is affected if it runs kde-workspace 4.11.13 or earlier, or plasma-desktop 5.1 or earlier, AND the policykit helper for KDE Clock NTP configuration is accessible to unprivileged local users.
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 dataApply vendor patches by upgrading kde-workspace to version 4.11.14 or later, and plasma-desktop to version 5.1.1 or later. On systems where updates are unavailable, consider restricting access to the policykit helper or disabling the NTP configuration functionality in KDE Clock.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2014-8651 — 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-2014-8651 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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