CVE-2025-5024
Description
A flaw was found in gnome-remote-desktop. Once gnome-remote-desktop listens for RDP connections, an unauthenticated attacker can exhaust system resources and repeatedly crash the process. There may be a resource leak after many attacks, which will also result in gnome-remote-desktop no longer being able to open files even after it is restarted via systemd.
Statement
The severity of this issue is considered moderate rather than important because successful exploitation requires the gnome-remote-desktop service to be actively configured and running in RDP mode, which is not enabled by default in most deployments. While the attack can be performed remotely and without authentication, it relies on sending specially crafted RDP packets that exploit a resource handling flaw, resulting in excessive consumption of system file descriptors and eventual denial of service. However, the vulnerability does not enable code execution, privilege escalation, or compromise of data integrity or confidentiality. The impact is therefore confined to service disruption rather than a direct security breach.
Additionally, the attack vector involves sustained resource abuse over time, requiring specific environmental conditions, such as systemd-managed user services with elevated file descriptor limits. This further limits the exploitability in default or hardened configurations. As such, the potential for widespread exploitation is constrained by the need for non-default service activation and prolonged interaction, reducing its overall security impact when compared to vulnerabilities that offer immediate compromise or broader applicability across system roles.
Mitigation
Mitigation for this issue is either not available or the currently available options don't meet the Red Hat Product Security criteria comprising ease of use and deployment, applicability to widespread installation base or stability.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 7.4 | N/A | 7.4 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | Required |
| Scope | Changed | N/A | Changed |
| Confidentiality | None | N/A | None |
| Integrity Impact | None | N/A | None |
| Availability Impact | High | N/A | High |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:N/I:N/A:H
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart; DoS: Resource Consumption (CPU); DoS: Resource Consumption (Memory); DoS: Resource Consumption (Other)
If an attacker can trigger the allocation of the limited resources, but the number or size of the resources is not controlled, then the most common result is denial of service. This would prevent valid users from accessing the product, and it could potentially have an impact on the surrounding environment, i.e., the product may slow down, crash due to unhandled errors, or lock out legitimate users. For example, a memory exhaustion attack against an application could slow down the application as well as its host operating system.
Access Control,Other
Technical Impact: Bypass Protection Mechanism; Other
In some cases it may be possible to force the product to "fail open" in the event of resource exhaustion. The state of the product -- and possibly the security functionality - may then be compromised.
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