CVE-2020-4044
CWE-121Published: June 30, 2020· Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Official Description
The xrdp-sesman service before version 0.9.13.1 can be crashed by connecting over port 3350 and supplying a malicious payload. Once the xrdp-sesman process is dead, an unprivileged attacker on the server could then proceed to start their own imposter sesman service listening on port 3350. This will allow them to capture any user credentials that are submitted to XRDP and approve or reject arbitrary login credentials. For xorgxrdp sessions in particular, this allows an unauthorized user to hijack an existing session. This is a buffer overflow attack, so there may be a risk of arbitrary code execution as well.
Technical Analysis
CVE-2020-4044 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.
Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 7.8.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
Official Patches & Advisories
All References (14)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-121)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2020-4044 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts