Description
GNOME Nautilus before 3.23.90 allows attackers to spoof a file type by using the .desktop file extension, as demonstrated by an attack in which a .desktop file's Name field ends in .pdf but this file's Exec field launches a malicious "sh -c" command. In other words, Nautilus provides no UI indication that a file actually has the potentially unsafe .desktop extension; instead, the UI only shows the .pdf extension. One (slightly) mitigating factor is that an attack requires the .desktop file to have execute permission. The solution is to ask the user to confirm that the file is supposed to be treated as a .desktop file, and then remember the user's answer in the metadata::trusted field.
Metrics
CVSS 3.1 6.5/10
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:NWeakness enumeration
Affected software
| Vendor | Product | Versions |
|---|---|---|
| n/a | n/a | n/a |
References
- http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3994Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101012Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0223Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=860268Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=777991Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/GNOME/nautilus/commit/1630f53481f445ada0a455e9979236d31a8d3bb0Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/GNOME/nautilus/commit/bc919205bf774f6af3fa7154506c46039af5a69bIssue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/issues/2238Third Party Advisory
- https://micahflee.com/2017/04/breaking-the-security-model-of-subgraph-os/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3994Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101012Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0223Third Party Advisory
- https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=860268Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
- https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=777991Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
- https://github.com/GNOME/nautilus/commit/1630f53481f445ada0a455e9979236d31a8d3bb0Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/GNOME/nautilus/commit/bc919205bf774f6af3fa7154506c46039af5a69bIssue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/issues/2238Third Party Advisory
- https://micahflee.com/2017/04/breaking-the-security-model-of-subgraph-os/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
Timeline
- Published
- Sep 20, 2017
- Last modified
- Jun 17, 2026
- NVD status
- Modified