CVE-2018-14424
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 daemon in GDM through 3.29.1 does not properly unexport display objects from its D-Bus interface when they are destroyed, which allows a local attacker to trigger a use-after-free via a specially crafted sequence of D-Bus method calls, resulting in a denial of service or potential code execution.
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 confidenceGDM (GNOME Display Manager) through version 3.29.1 contains a use-after-free vulnerability in its D-Bus daemon interface. When display objects are destroyed, the daemon fails to properly unexport them from the D-Bus interface, leaving dangling references. A local attacker can exploit this by issuing a crafted sequence of D-Bus method calls to trigger the use-after-free, potentially achieving code execution with GDM privileges.
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<= 3.29.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/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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Check if GDM is installedRun 'rpm -q gdm' (RHEL/Fedora) or 'dpkg -l gdm' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'gdm --version' to see if GNOME Display Manager is present on the systemAffected if GDM is not installed, the system is not affected by this specific vulnerability
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Determine the installed GDM versionRun 'gdm --version' or check the package manager output (rpm -qi gdm / dpkg -s gdm) to obtain the exact version numberAffected if The installed version is 3.29.1 or lower, placing it within the affected range (<= 3.29.1)
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Verify D-Bus interface for GDM is enabledCheck if the GDM D-Bus service is active by running 'busctl list' or looking for 'org.gnome.DisplayManager' in the D-Bus services (typically at /usr/share/dbus-1/interfaces/ or via 'gdbus introspect')Affected if The D-Bus interface for GDM is enabled and exposed, which is required for the vulnerability to be exploitable
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Check for dangling D-Bus object referencesMonitor D-Bus traffic using 'dbus-monitor' or review system logs for any use-after-free errors or crashes related to GDM's display object lifecycleAffected if There are signs of improper object cleanup, unexport failures, or GDM crashes during D-Bus operations, indicating the vulnerable code path may be triggered
A system is affected if GDM version 3.29.1 or lower is installed and the D-Bus interface is enabled, allowing a local attacker to trigger the use-after-free through crafted D-Bus method calls.
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 GDM to version 3.29.2 or later, which contains the fix for proper object lifecycle management in the D-Bus interface. As a defensive measure, restrict local untrusted user access to the system.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2018-14424 — 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-2018-14424 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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