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.
References (9)
Core 9
Core References
Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/freedomofpress/securedrop/issues/2238
Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=860268
Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/GNOME/nautilus/commit/1630f53481f445ada0a455e9979236d31a8d3bb0
Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://bugzilla.gnome.org/show_bug.cgi?id=777991
Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry vdb-entry
x_refsource_bid
http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/101012
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory
x_refsource_debian
http://www.debian.org/security/2017/dsa-3994
Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://github.com/GNOME/nautilus/commit/bc919205bf774f6af3fa7154506c46039af5a69b
Exploit, Third Party Advisory x_refsource_misc
https://micahflee.com/2017/04/breaking-the-security-model-of-subgraph-os/
Third Party Advisory vendor-advisory
x_refsource_redhat
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2018:0223
Scores
CVSS v3
6.5
EPSS
0.0391
EPSS Percentile
88.4%
Attack Vector
NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Details
CWE
CWE-20
Status
published
Products (4)
debian/debian_linux
8.0
debian/debian_linux
9.0
debian/debian_linux
10.0
gnome/nautilus
< 3.23.90
Published
Sep 20, 2017
Tracked Since
Feb 18, 2026