dbcve.org
FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2022-46341

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-12-14
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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
A vulnerability was found in X.Org. This security flaw occurs because the handler for the XIPassiveUngrab request accesses out-of-bounds memory when invoked with a high keycode or button code. This issue can lead to local privileges elevation on systems where the X server is running privileged and remote code execution for ssh X forwarding sessions.

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

The XIPassiveUngrab request handler in X.Org accesses out-of-bounds memory when invoked with a high keycode or button code. This memory corruption vulnerability allows local privilege escalation on systems where the X server runs with elevated privileges and enables remote code execution when exploited through ssh X forwarding sessions.

MitigationUpdate X.Org X server to the patched version provided by the vendor. For systems where X runs privileged, review and restrict X server access controls and consider privilege separation.

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
Affected:= 36= 37
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 11.0
X ServerApplication
Affected:= 1.20.4

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/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 checks

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

  1. Identify installed X server version
    Run 'Xorg -version' or check the installed package version using the system package manager (dnf for Fedora, apt for Debian)
    Affected if Version equals 1.20.4 or earlier on Fedora 36/37, Debian 11.0, or any X.org X Server 1.20.4 installation
  2. Confirm X server is running
    Check for active X processes (for example: 'ps aux | grep Xorg' or 'pgrep -a X')
    Affected if X server process is running and version is vulnerable (see step 1)
  3. Check if X server runs with elevated privileges
    Check the user the X server runs as (ps output shows the user column, or examine /var/log/Xorg.0.log for startup user)
    Affected if X server runs as root or with elevated privileges, enabling local privilege escalation exploit path
  4. Check for active X11 forwarding
    Look for SSH X11 forwarding sessions (check environment variables $DISPLAY, or look for 'ForwardX11 yes' in ~/.ssh/config or /etc/ssh/ssh_config)
    Affected if X11 forwarding is enabled or active, enabling the remote code execution exploit path through ssh

Environment is affected if running X server version 1.20.4 (or earlier matching the Fedora/Debian versions) and the X server is active, with elevated severity if running as root or with X11 forwarding enabled.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update X.Org X server to the patched version provided by the vendor. For systems where X runs privileged, review and restrict X server access controls and consider privilege separation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

X Server 1.21.x or latest 1.20.x stable release (xorg-server 1.20.5 or later)

  1. Identify the X.Org X Server package in your system (often xorg-server or xorg-x11-server)
  2. Check your current installed version using: rpm -qa | grep xorg-server (RHEL/Fedora) or dpkg -l | grep xserver-xorg (Debian)
  3. For Fedora 36/37: Run 'dnf update xorg-x11-server' to get the latest available version with security fixes
  4. For Debian 11: Run 'apt-get update && apt-get install xserver-xorg-core' to install the patched version
  5. Verify the update was successful by checking the new version number
  6. Restart the X server (or reboot) for changes to take effect
  7. For SSH X11 forwarding: Ensure both client and server are updated to prevent exploitation
Caveat Updating X server may require restarting graphical session; ensure all applications are saved before update

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Fedora Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
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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-2022-46341 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
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data