CVE-2021-21381

Sep 3, 2024

Published Date: 2021-03-11T17:15Z
Last Modified: 2023-12-23T10:15Z

CVSS Score: 8.2 (HIGH)

EPSS Score: 0.14%

Risk Score: 5.74 (HIGH)

Risk Score based on CVSS score and EPSS. This score is for reference purposes and is not internationally recognized.

Meter Needle
CVSS: 8.2  |  EPSS: 0.14%

Description: Flatpak is a system for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux. In Flatpack since version 0.9.4 and before version 1.10.2 has a vulnerability in the “file forwarding” feature which can be used by an attacker to gain access to files that would not ordinarily be allowed by the app’s permissions. By putting the special tokens `@@` and/or `@@u` in the Exec field of a Flatpak app’s .desktop file, a malicious app publisher can trick flatpak into behaving as though the user had chosen to open a target file with their Flatpak app, which automatically makes that file available to the Flatpak app. This is fixed in version 1.10.2. A minimal solution is the first commit “`Disallow @@ and @@U usage in desktop files`”. The follow-up commits “`dir: Reserve the whole @@ prefix`” and “`dir: Refuse to export .desktop files with suspicious uses of @@ tokens`” are recommended, but not strictly required. As a workaround, avoid installing Flatpak apps from untrusted sources, or check the contents of the exported `.desktop` files in `exports/share/applications/*.desktop` (typically `~/.local/share/flatpak/exports/share/applications/*.desktop` and `/var/lib/flatpak/exports/share/applications/*.desktop`) to make sure that literal filenames do not follow `@@` or `@@u`.

Mitre ATT&CK Technical v15.1

T1153 – Source
T1053.002 – At

Technical Analysis & Mitigation Measures

Reference Links

Vendor - Produce - Version

flatpak - flatpak, debian_linux - debian, fedora - fedoraproject, fedora - fedoraproject

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