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High

Stack-based buffer overflow in X.Org X server/Xwayland _XkbSetMapChecks

IdentifiersCVE-2026-50259CWE-121· Stack-based Buffer Overflow

CVE-2026-50259 is a stack-based buffer overflow in the X.Org X server and Xwayland XKB SetMap request handling. In _XkbSetMapChecks(), the code declares a fixed-size stack buffer, mapWidths[256], indexed by key type index. The helper function CheckKeyTypes() can write to this buffer using a client-controlled offset, allowing writes past the end of the stack buffer. The issue affects X.Org X server versions prior to 21.1.23 and Xwayland versions prior to 24.1.12.

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For your environment

Are you exposed to this one?

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation can crash the X server, resulting in denial of service. If the X server is running with root privileges, the stack-based overflow may also enable privilege escalation.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, reduce exposure by restricting access to the X server/Xwayland from untrusted clients and avoid running the X server as root where possible. These measures may reduce exploitability but do not remediate the underlying flaw.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to xorg-server 21.1.23 or later and xwayland 24.1.12 or later, which contain the vendor fixes for this issue.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType
X.OrgX Serverapplication
X.OrgXwaylandapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

6 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.
Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity6

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.