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Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical

CVE-2022-1736

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-31
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Ubuntu's configuration of gnome-control-center allowed Remote Desktop Sharing to be enabled by default.

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

Ubuntu's gnome-control-center was configured to have Remote Desktop Sharing enabled by default, allowing unauthenticated remote attackers to potentially access the desktop session without user consent or awareness.

MitigationConfigure gnome-control-center to disable Remote Desktop Sharing by default and ensure users must explicitly enable it; apply Ubuntu security updates.

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
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 18.04= 20.04= 22.04
Gnome Remote DesktopApplication
Affected:= 42.1.1= 42.1.1-1= 42.1.1-2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/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 checks

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

  1. Check Ubuntu version
    Run: cat /etc/lsb-release and look for DISTRIB_RELEASE=18.04, 20.04, or 22.04
    Affected if Running Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 22.04 and Remote Desktop Sharing is enabled
  2. Check gnome-remote-desktop package version
    Run: dpkg -l gnome-remote-desktop | grep gnome-remote-desktop
    Affected if Version is 42.1.1, 42.1.1-1, or 42.1.1-2 AND Remote Desktop Sharing is enabled
  3. Verify Remote Desktop Sharing status
    Open gnome-control-center, navigate to Sharing panel, or run: gsettings get org.gnome.desktop.remote-desktop enable
    Affected if Remote Desktop Sharing is turned ON (value is true)
  4. Check for listening remote desktop ports
    Run: ss -tulpn | grep -E ':(5900|3389)' to see if VNC (5900) or RDP (3389) ports are listening
    Affected if Ports 5900 or 3389 are open and listening, indicating remote desktop is active

A system is affected if it runs Ubuntu 18.04, 20.04, or 22.04 with gnome-remote-desktop installed AND Remote Desktop Sharing is enabled (either manually or by default), as this allows unauthenticated remote access.

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

Configure gnome-control-center to disable Remote Desktop Sharing by default and ensure users must explicitly enable it; apply Ubuntu security updates.

Fix this in Ubuntu Linux Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
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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-2022-1736 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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