Description
lightdm before 0.9.6 writes in .dmrc and Xauthority files using root permissions while the files are in user controlled folders. A local user can overwrite root-owned files via a symlink, which can allow possible privilege escalation.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| lightdm | lightdm | before 0.9.6 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | lightdm | 0.9.6-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | lightdm | 0.9.6-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | lightdm | 0.9.6-1 | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | lightdm | 1.21.1-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10033-1 |
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10033-1 liblightdm-gobject-1-0-1.21.1-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
References
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2011-3349
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/cve-2011-3349
- https://www.securityfocus.com/bid/50506
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=639151
- https://bugs.launchpad.net/debian/+source/lightdm/+bug/834079
- https://seclists.org/oss-sec/2011/q3/393