Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-6478

Memory Safety in Debian Linux 10.0 … 12.0

Published
13 December 2023
Modified
23 June 2026
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.6
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L
EPSS Score 0.016 74th percentile
Risk Priority 60 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-6478 is a high-severity Integer Overflow or Wraparound (CWE-190) vulnerability in Redhat Enterprise Linux. Its CVSS base score is 7.6 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked in the top 26% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

A flaw was found in xorg-server. A specially crafted request to RRChangeProviderProperty or RRChangeOutputProperty can trigger an integer overflow which may lead to a disclosure of sensitive information.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-6377Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-26601Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2025-26594Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2025-26600Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2025-26597Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2026-4775Same product: Debian Debian Linux
CVE-2025-26595Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2025-26598Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2025-26599Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux
CVE-2025-26596Same product: Redhat Enterprise Linux

Affected Assets

x.org
x server
≤ 21.1.10
x.org
xwayland
≤ 23.2.3
redhat
enterprise linux eus
9.2
debian
debian linux
10.0, 11.0, 12.0
tigervnc
tigervnc
all versions

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V5.2.6

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require use of safe arithmetic, bounds checks, and testing that prevent integer overflows.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

finds

Security testing in development can detect integer overflows before release.

prevents

Secure SDLC mandates input validation and arithmetic checks that prevent integer overflows.

degrades

Application security requirements include bounds checking and safe arithmetic to avoid overflow conditions.

degrades

Secure architecture principles require defensive coding patterns that mitigate integer wraparound risks.

prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe integer operations and mandate overflow-safe constructs.

References