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-develUpgrade nautilus-debuginfoUpgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilus | Jan 27, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Debian | — | Upgrade nautilus | Oct 9, 2017 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp1 | — | Upgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilus | Mar 16, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Huawei Euleros 2_0_sp2 | — | Upgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-extensions | Feb 13, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Oracle_linux | — | Upgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-develUpgrade nautilus-extensions | Jan 27, 2018 | Jan 31, 2017 |
| Redhat_linux | — | No solution existsUpgrade nautilus-extensionsUpgrade nautilus-develUpgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-debuginfo | Jan 26, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Suse | — | Upgrade libnautilus-extension1Upgrade gnome-shell-search-provider-nautilusUpgrade nautilus-develUpgrade typelib-1_0-Nautilus-3_0Upgrade nautilus-x86Upgrade nautilusUpgrade nautilus-32bitUpgrade nautilus-langUpgrade libnautilus-extension1-32bit | Jun 16, 2018 | Sep 20, 2017 |
| Ubuntu | — | No solution exists | Jun 26, 2025 | Sep 20, 2017 |
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