FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2016-2312
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 · uneditedTurning all screens off in Plasma-workspace and kscreenlocker while the lock screen is shown can result in the screen being unlocked when turning a screen on again.
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 confidenceA vulnerability in Plasma-workspace and kscreenlocker allows authentication bypass when all screens are turned off while the lock screen is displayed. When a screen is turned back on, the session unlocks automatically instead of requiring authentication, bypassing the screen lock protection.
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
FedoraOperating system
= 22= 23<= 5.5.4<= 5.4.3= 42.1CVSS 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
- Physical
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/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.
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Verify kscreenlocker is installedCheck for kscreenlocker package using your distribution's package manager (e.g., `rpm -q kscreenlocker` on Fedora/RHEL, `dpkg -l | grep kscreenlocker` on Debian-based systems)Affected if kscreenlocker is not installed means not affected
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Check kscreenlocker versionRun `kscreenlocker --version` or check the package version via package manager (e.g., `rpm -q --qf '%{VERSION}-%{RELEASE}' kscreenlocker`)Affected if version is 5.5.4 or lower indicates vulnerability present
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Check Plasma Workspace versionRun `plasma-desktop --version` or check plasma-workspace package version via package managerAffected if version is 5.4.3 or lower indicates vulnerability present
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Verify automatic screen lock is enabledCheck KDE System Settings under Screen Locking, or inspect config file ~/.config/kdeglobals or ~/.config/kscreenlockerrc for LockScreen settingsAffected if automatic screen locking is enabled AND version is vulnerable - only then is the authentication bypass applicable
System is affected if running kscreenlocker <= 5.5.4 or Plasma Workspace <= 5.4.3 AND automatic screen locking is configured to activate when screens turn off
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 the vendor-provided patch for CVE-2016-2312 which corrects the screen lock state management logic in kscreenlocker. Until patched, avoid relying on automatic screen locking when using the Plasma desktop environment.
Fix this in Fedora
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-2312 — 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-2016-2312 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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