CVE-2023-3138
7.5 · HIGHOverview
CVE-2023-3138 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting x.org libx11. It was published on June 28, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
Technical Description
A vulnerability was found in libX11. The security flaw occurs because the functions in src/InitExt.c in libX11 do not check that the values provided for the Request, Event, or Error IDs are within the bounds of the arrays that those functions write to, using those IDs as array indexes. They trust that they were called with values provided by an Xserver adhering to the bounds specified in the X11 protocol, as all X servers provided by X.Org do. As the protocol only specifies a single byte for these values, an out-of-bounds value provided by a malicious server (or a malicious proxy-in-the-middle) can only overwrite other portions of the Display structure and not write outside the bounds of the Display structure itself, possibly causing the client to crash with this memory corruption.
Remediation
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from x.org. Update libx11 to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
Affected Products
| Vendor | Product | Versions | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| x.org | libx11 | >= 0, < 1.8.6 | Affected |
References
Frequently Asked Questions
What is CVE-2023-3138?
CVE-2023-3138 is a high-severity vulnerability affecting x.org libx11. It was published on June 28, 2023 and has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5 (HIGH).
How severe is CVE-2023-3138?
This vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.5, rated HIGH. It can be exploited remotely over the network. No authentication or special privileges are required for exploitation.
How do I fix or remediate CVE-2023-3138?
Check the references section for vendor advisories and patches from x.org. Update libx11 to the latest patched version. If immediate patching is not possible, review the CVSS vector to understand the attack surface and apply compensating controls such as network segmentation or access restrictions.
How can CyberStrike help with CVE-2023-3138?
CyberStrike's AI-powered security agents can automatically detect CVE-2023-3138 across your infrastructure using autonomous pentesting, DAST scanning, and HackBrowser. The platform continuously monitors for known vulnerabilities and provides actionable remediation guidance prioritized by real-world exploitability.
How CyberStrike Helps
AI agents map your attack surface to find vulnerabilities like this one.
Automated penetration testing that runs continuously, not just quarterly.
AI-driven PR review catches vulnerable dependencies before they ship.
Browser-based exploitation validates findings with real proof-of-concept.
Related HIGH CVEs from 2023
View all →support_uri parameter in the WARP client local settings file (mdm.xml) lacked proper validation whic
ZoneMinder is a free, open source Closed-circuit television software application for Linux which sup
ZoneMinder is a free, open source Closed-circuit television software application for Linux which sup
XWiki Platform is a generic wiki platform. Starting in version 12.10, a user without script rights c
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. The Livetab
XWiki Commons are technical libraries common to several other top level XWiki projects. A user witho
Session Validation attacks in Apache Superset versions up to and including 2.0.1. Installations that
Leantime is a lean open source project management system. Starting in version 2.3.21, an authenticat
IBM Security Guardium 11.3, 11.4, and 11.5 is vulnerable to stored cross-site scripting. This vulner
Thanks to the weaknesses that the web application has at the user management level, an attack
JumpServer is an open source bastion host. Logged-in users can access and modify the contents of any
lte-pic32-writer is a writer for PIC32 devices. In versions 0.0.1 and prior, those who use `sendto.t