GlibApplication · Gnome

CVE-2019-9633

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.0 Published 2019-03-08
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
gio/gsocketclient.c in GNOME GLib 2.59.2 does not ensure that a parent GTask remains alive during the execution of a connection-attempting enumeration, which allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (g_socket_client_connected_callback mishandling and application crash) via a crafted web site, as demonstrated by GNOME Web (aka Epiphany).

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 confidence

A race condition in gio/gsocketclient.c within GNOME GLib 2.59.2 fails to maintain a reference to the parent GTask object during socket connection enumeration. When the connection-attempt callback executes, it references a freed GTask object, causing a use-after-free that crashes the application. This can be triggered remotely via a malicious website in browsers like Epiphany that use this GLib component.

MitigationUpgrade GNOME GLib to version 2.60 or later which contains the patched GTask lifecycle management in gsocketclient.c. Until patched, restrict browser access to untrusted web content.

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
GlibApplication
Affected:= 2.59.2

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

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

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed GLib version
    Run `pkg-config --modversion glib-2.0` or check your package manager (dpkg -l | grep libglib2.0 on Debian/Ubuntu, rpm -qa | grep glib on RHEL/CentOS)
    Affected if The version reported is exactly 2.59.2
  2. Check for GLib library file version
    Inspect the shared library directly with `strings /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libglib-2.0.so.0 | grep "^2\.59\.2$"` or similar path for your architecture
    Affected if The library contains version string 2.59.2
  3. Identify applications using GSocketClient
    Check for browsers or network applications that depend on GLib (such as Epiphany/WebKitGTK) with `ldd $(which epiphany) 2>/dev/null | grep glib`
    Affected if Epiphany or other GLib-based network applications are installed and used with GLib 2.59.2
  4. Review application crash logs
    Examine dmesg, journalctl, or application-specific logs for use-after-free errors in socket connection handling
    Affected if Logs show crashes in gsocketclient.c or GSocketClient callbacks with memory corruption patterns

You are affected if GNOME GLib version 2.59.2 is installed and you use applications (such as Epiphany browser) that leverage GSocketClient for network connections.

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

Upgrade GNOME GLib to version 2.60 or later which contains the patched GTask lifecycle management in gsocketclient.c. Until patched, restrict browser access to untrusted web content.

Fix this in Glib Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
28.0 hours of engineering $4,760
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2019-9633 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
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