FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject
CVE-2016-7948
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 · uneditedX.org libXrandr before 1.5.1 allows remote X servers to trigger out-of-bounds write operations by leveraging mishandling of reply data.
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 confidenceBuffer overflow vulnerability in libXrandr (versions before 1.5.1) where improper handling of reply data from remote X servers allows out-of-bounds memory writes, potentially enabling remote code execution.
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
= 24= 25<= 1.5.0CVSS 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.
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Identify installed libXrandr versionRun 'rpm -q libXrandr' on Fedora or check the library file version with 'objdump -p /usr/lib/libXrandr.so* | grep VERSION' or 'ldd --version'. Compare the output to the affected range (versions <= 1.5.0).Affected if The installed version is 1.5.0 or earlier.
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Confirm X11 display server is runningCheck if an X server is active by running 'ps aux | grep X' or checking for open ports with 'ss -tlnp | grep :6000' (default X11 port).Affected if An X server process is running and listening for connections.
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Check X server network exposureInspect network configuration for X display listeners. Run 'xdpyinfo -display :0' locally to verify display works, then check if the system accepts remote connections by reviewing 'xauth list' or examining /etc/X11/xorg.conf for 'DisableTCP' settings. The vulnerability is triggered by reply data from remote X servers.Affected if The X server is configured to accept remote TCP connections (not using Unix socket only).
A system is affected if it has libXrandr version 1.5.0 or earlier AND runs an X server accessible to remote clients over the network.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade libXrandr to version 1.5.1 or later. Additionally, restrict X server network exposure and enforce authentication (e.g., xhost+, IP-based access controls) to minimize attack surface.
libxrandr 1.5.1 or later; Fedora 24/25 users should upgrade to a supported Fedora release
- Identify the current version of libxrandr installed (e.g., via rpm -qa libXrandr or dpkg -l libxrandr)
- Update the system package manager to fetch the latest available packages
- Upgrade libxrandr to version 1.5.1 or later by running the appropriate package manager upgrade command (e.g., dnf update libXrandr or apt-get update && apt-get upgrade libxrandr)
- Restart any X.org server or X-dependent applications to ensure the patched library is loaded
- Verify the installed version matches or exceeds 1.5.1 using the version check command from step 1
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Fedora
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $3,072.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2016-7948 — 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-2016-7948 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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