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.
CVSS Details
- CVSS 3.1 Base Score: 6.5
- CVSS 3.1 Vector: (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N)
Covered by Rapid7
| Product | Vendor Advisory | Solution File | Added | Published |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux Ami 2 | — | Upgrade nautilus-develUpgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-debuginfo | Apr 27, 2020 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Centos_linux | — | Upgrade nautilus-debuginfoUpgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilus-develUpgrade nautilus | Jan 27, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade nautilus | Oct 9, 2017 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp1 | — | Upgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-extensions | Mar 16, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp2 | — | Upgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilus | Feb 13, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Oracle_linux | — | Upgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilus-develUpgrade nautilus | Jan 27, 2018 | Jan 31, 2017 |
| Redhat_linux | — | Upgrade nautilus-extensionsNo solution existsUpgrade nautilus-develUpgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-debuginfo | Jan 26, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Suse | — | Upgrade libnautilus-extension1-32bitUpgrade nautilus-32bitUpgrade nautilus-langUpgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-x86Upgrade typelib-1_0-Nautilus-3_0Upgrade nautilus-develUpgrade gnome-shell-search-provider-nautilusUpgrade libnautilus-extension1 | Jun 16, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Ubuntu | — | No solution exists | Jun 26, 2025 | Sep 20, 2017 |
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