Security readout for executives and security teams
CVE-2018-20178 is a crash bug in rdesktop, an RDP client. Versions up to and including 1.8.3 can read outside expected memory while handling server negotiation, causing a segmentation fault. The main business risk is disruption to users or jump hosts that still rely on vulnerable rdesktop clients. Exposure is most likely on Linux or Unix workstations, admin jump boxes, or scripts using rdesktop versions 1.8.3 or earlier. Environments that connect to third-party, unmanaged, or potentially compromised RDP servers have higher practical risk. Treat as a targeted reliability and remote-access hygiene issue. Prioritize remediation where rdesktop is used by administrators, support teams, or automation touching external RDP servers. It is not supported by the provided sources as actively exploited or business-critical by itself. Mitigation focus: Upgrade rdesktop using vendor packages or upstream guidance.; Confirm systems are beyond rdesktop 1.8.3 or contain the referenced fix.; Limit rdesktop use against untrusted or unmanaged RDP servers..
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
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ATT&CK lookup starting points
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CVE-2018-20178 mapping review
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Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/rdesktop/rdesktop/commit/4dca546d04321a610c1835010b5dad85163b65e1CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- GLSA-201903-06CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_GENTOO
- https://research.checkpoint.com/reverse-rdp-attack-code-execution-on-rdp-clients/CVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- DSA-4394CVE reference · vendor-advisory, x_refsource_DEBIAN
- [debian-lts-announce] 20190219 [SECURITY] [DLA 1683-1] rdesktop security updateCVE reference · mailing-list, x_refsource_MLIST
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.