dbcve.org
Unity8Application

CVE-2016-1584

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-04-22
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
In all versions of Unity8 a running but not active application on a large-screen device could talk with Maliit and consume keyboard input.

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 · moderate confidence

In all versions of Unity8, the desktop shell for Ubuntu, a background application that is running but not currently active or focused could communicate with the Maliit input method framework and intercept keyboard input intended for the foreground application. This allows a malicious running application to potentially capture keystrokes meant for another application.

MitigationUpdate Unity8 to the patched version when available; until then, avoid running untrusted applications concurrently with sensitive tasks on large-screen Unity8 devices.

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
Unity8Application
Affected:all versions

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
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L

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. Check if Unity8 is installed
    Run 'dpkg -l unity8' on Ubuntu/Debian systems, or check for the unity8 binary at /usr/bin/unity8
    Affected if Unity8 package or binary exists on the system
  2. Verify Unity8 version
    Run 'dpkg -s unity8' to retrieve the installed package version information
    Affected if Any version of Unity8 is installed (all versions are affected)
  3. Check if Maliit input method is active
    Run 'ps aux | grep maliit' to verify the Maliit input method framework is running, or inspect system input method configuration
    Affected if Maliit input method framework is running or enabled
  4. Identify running background applications
    Use 'ps aux' or system process monitor to list all running applications alongside Unity8
    Affected if Any background applications are running concurrently with Unity8

If Unity8 with Maliit input method is installed on the system, the environment is vulnerable to CVE-2016-1584 regardless of version.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update Unity8 to the patched version when available; until then, avoid running untrusted applications concurrently with sensitive tasks on large-screen Unity8 devices.

Fix this in Unity8 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation12.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
24.0 hours of engineering $4,200
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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-2016-1584 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