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Linux Distros Unpatched Vulnerability : CVE-2024-21885

high Nessus Plugin ID 227481

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Synopsis

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed with a vulnerability that the vendor indicates will not be patched.

Description

The Linux/Unix host has one or more packages installed that are impacted by a vulnerability without a vendor supplied patch available.

 - A flaw was found in X.Org server. In the XISendDeviceHierarchyEvent function, it is possible to exceed the allocated array length when certain new device IDs are added to the xXIHierarchyInfo struct. This can trigger a heap buffer overflow condition, which may lead to an application crash or remote code execution in SSH X11 forwarding environments. (CVE-2024-21885)

Note that Nessus relies on the presence of the package as reported by the vendor.

Solution

There is no known solution at this time.

See Also

https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2024-21885

https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2024-21885

Plugin Details

Severity: High

ID: 227481

File Name: unpatched_CVE_2024_21885.nasl

Version: 1.3

Type: local

Agent: unix

Family: Misc.

Published: 3/5/2025

Updated: 8/20/2025

Supported Sensors: Agentless Assessment, Frictionless Assessment Agent, Frictionless Assessment AWS, Frictionless Assessment Azure, Nessus Agent, Nessus

Risk Information

VPR

Risk Factor: Medium

Score: 6.7

CVSS v2

Risk Factor: Medium

Base Score: 6.8

Temporal Score: 5

Vector: CVSS2#AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

CVSS Score Source: CVE-2024-21885

CVSS v3

Risk Factor: High

Base Score: 7.8

Temporal Score: 6.8

Vector: CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Temporal Vector: CVSS:3.0/E:U/RL:O/RC:C

Vulnerability Information

CPE: p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:xorg-server-hwe-16.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:16.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:canonical:ubuntu_linux:xorg-server-hwe-18.04, cpe:/o:canonical:ubuntu_linux:18.04:-:lts, p-cpe:/a:debian:debian_linux:xwayland, cpe:/o:debian:debian_linux:12.0

Required KB Items: Host/OS/identifier, Host/cpu, Host/local_checks_enabled, global_settings/vendor_unpatched

Exploit Ease: No known exploits are available

Vulnerability Publication Date: 1/16/2024

Reference Information

CVE: CVE-2024-21885