CVE-2013-4394

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.9 v2.0)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2013-10-28 · updated 2026-06-16
Weakness: CWE-276

Description

The SetX11Keyboard function in systemd, when PolicyKit Local Authority (PKLA) is used to change the group permissions on the X Keyboard Extension (XKB) layouts description, allows local users in the group to modify the Xorg X11 Server configuration file and possibly gain privileges via vectors involving "special and control characters."

Affected products

Debian Linux: 7.0
systemd: before 194 — fixed in 194

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: systemd 194. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=725357
http://www.debian.org/security/2013/dsa-2777
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/10/01/9
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=862324
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201612-34
http://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=725357
http://www.debian.org/security/2013/dsa-2777
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2013/10/01/9
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=862324
https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201612-34

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