CVE-2021-21381: high-severity vulnerability in flatpak
Sandbox escape via special tokens in .desktop file
Published · Updated
E-mail alert when it lands in KEV, gets a public PoC or its score goes up.
21Vexday Risk Score
No sign of exploitation. No public exploitation artifact known so far.
ssvc Trackcvss 7.1epss 1.5%
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`.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:N
Affected products
flatpak · flatpakRelated CVEs — flatpak
In the same product, most dangerous first.
CVE-2022-21682HIGHflatpak-builder can access files outside the build directory.EPSS 1.8%CVE-2026-34078CRITICALFlatpak has a complete sandbox escape leading to host file access and code execution in the host contextEPSS 1.7%CVE-2021-43860HIGHPermissions granted to applications can be hidden from the user at install timeEPSS 1.4%CVE-2024-42472CRITICALFlatpak may allow access to files outside sandbox for certain appsEPSS 1.3%CVE-2023-28101MEDIUMFlatpak metadata with ANSI control codes can cause misleading terminal outputEPSS 0.9%CVE-2023-28100CRITICALTIOCLINUX can send commands outside sandbox if running on a virtual consoleEPSS 0.9%
References
https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/8279c5818425b6812523e3805bbe242fb6a5d961https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/a7401e638bf0c03102039e216ab1081922f140aehttps://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/eb7946bb6248923d8c90fe9b84425fef97ae580dhttps://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/pull/4156https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/releases/tag/1.10.2https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/security/advisories/GHSA-xgh4-387p-hqpphttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/2MXXLXC2DPJ45HSMTI5MZYHMYEGQN6AA/https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/WXNVFOIB6ZP4DGOVKAM25T6OIEP3YLGV/https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-12https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4868