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Vulnerability · Published Mar 16, 2023 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2023-28101Flatpak metadata with ANSI control codes can cause misleading terminal output

Medium 5.0

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in flatpak from flatpak. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.9% (higher than 59% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)5.0Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.9%top 40.8% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Flatpak is a system for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux. In versions prior to 1.10.8, 1.12.8, 1.14.4, and 1.15.4, if an attacker publishes a Flatpak app with elevated permissions, they can hide those permissions from users of the `flatpak(1)` command-line interface by setting other permissions to crafted values that contain non-printable control characters such as `ESC`. A fix is available in versions 1.10.8, 1.12.8, 1.14.4, and 1.15.4. As a workaround, use a GUI like GNOME Software rather than the command-line interface, or only install apps whose maintainers you trust.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
AlmaLinux:8flatpak1.10.8-1.el8ALSA-2023:7038
AlmaLinux:9flatpak1.12.8-1.el9ALSA-2023:6518
AlmaLinux:8flatpak-devel1.10.8-1.el8ALSA-2023:7038
AlmaLinux:9flatpak-devel1.12.8-1.el9ALSA-2023:6518
AlmaLinux:8flatpak-libs1.10.8-1.el8ALSA-2023:7038
AlmaLinux:9flatpak-libs1.12.8-1.el9ALSA-2023:6518
AlmaLinux:8flatpak-selinux1.10.8-1.el8ALSA-2023:7038
AlmaLinux:9flatpak-selinux1.12.8-1.el9ALSA-2023:6518
AlmaLinux:8flatpak-session-helper1.10.8-1.el8ALSA-2023:7038
AlmaLinux:9flatpak-session-helper1.12.8-1.el9ALSA-2023:6518
Debian:12flatpak1.14.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-28101
Debian:13flatpak1.14.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-28101
Debian:14flatpak1.14.4-1DEBIAN-CVE-2023-28101
Rocky Linux:9flatpak0:1.12.8-1.el9RLSA-2023:6518
Ubuntu:25.10flatpakno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28101
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSflatpakno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28101
Ubuntu:26.10flatpakno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2023-28101

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
flatpak flatpak < 1.10.8>= 1.12.0, < 1.12.8>= 1.14.0, < 1.14.4>= 1.15.0, < 1.15.4

Weakness: CWE-116 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

References