Vulnerability · Published Aug 30, 2023 · Assigned by GitHub_M
CVE-2023-40184Improper handling of session establishment errors in xrdp
Low 2.6
In plain English
A low-severity security flaw in xrdp from neutrinolabs. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.9% (higher than 58% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.
Official description
xrdp is an open source remote desktop protocol (RDP) server. In versions prior to 0.9.23 improper handling of session establishment errors allows bypassing OS-level session restrictions. The `auth_start_session` function can return non-zero (1) value on, e.g., PAM error which may result in in session restrictions such as max concurrent sessions per user by PAM (ex ./etc/security/limits.conf) to be bypassed. Users (administrators) don't use restrictions by PAM are not affected. This issue has been addressed in release version 0.9.23. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this issue.
Affected packages & fixed versions
| Ecosystem | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine:v3.20 | xrdp | 0.9.23-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Alpine:v3.21 | xrdp | 0.9.23-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Alpine:v3.22 | xrdp | 0.9.23-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Alpine:v3.23 | xrdp | 0.9.23-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Alpine:v3.24 | xrdp | 0.9.23-r0 | ALPINE-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Debian:12 | xrdp | 0.9.21.1-1+deb12u1 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Debian:13 | xrdp | 0.9.24-2 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Debian:14 | xrdp | 0.9.24-2 | DEBIAN-CVE-2023-40184 |
| Ubuntu:25.10 | xrdp | 0.10.1-3.1+deb13u1build0.25.10.1 | USN-8476-1 |
Affected products (as reported)
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| neutrinolabs | xrdp | < 0.9.23 |
Weakness: CWE-755 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
References
- https://github.com/neutrinolabs/xrdp/security/advisories/GHSA-f489-557v-47jq x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://github.com/neutrinolabs/xrdp/commit/a111a0fdfe2421ef600e40708b5f0168594cfb23 x_refsource_MISC
- https://github.com/neutrinolabs/xrdp/blame/9bbb2ec68f390504c32f2062847aa3d821a0089a/sesman/sesexec/session.c#L571C5-L571C19 x_refsource_MISC
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/U5IXMQODV3OIJ7DRQBUQV7PUKNT7SH36/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SOT237TIHTHPX5YNIWLVNINOEYC7WMG2/
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce@lists.fedoraproject.org/message/URO3FKTFBPNKFARAQBEJLI4MH6YS35P5/
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2025/05/msg00018.html