USN-4951-1: Flatpak vulnerability

Publication date

12 May 2021

Overview

A Flatpak application could access files that it would not normally be permitted to access.


Packages

  • flatpak - Application deployment framework for desktop apps

Details

Anton Lydike discovered that Flatpak did not properly handle special tokens
in desktop files. An attacker could use this to specially craft a Flatpak
application that could escape sandbox confinement.

Anton Lydike discovered that Flatpak did not properly handle special tokens
in desktop files. An attacker could use this to specially craft a Flatpak
application that could escape sandbox confinement.

Update instructions

In general, a standard system update will make all the necessary changes.

Learn more about how to get the fixes.

The problem can be corrected by updating your system to the following package versions:

Ubuntu Release Package Version
20.10 groovy libflatpak0 –  1.8.2-1ubuntu0.2
flatpak –  1.8.2-1ubuntu0.2
20.04 focal libflatpak0 –  1.6.5-0ubuntu0.3
flatpak –  1.6.5-0ubuntu0.3
18.04 bionic libflatpak0 –  1.0.9-0ubuntu0.3
flatpak –  1.0.9-0ubuntu0.3

Reduce your security exposure

Ubuntu Pro provides ten-year security coverage to 25,000+ packages in Main and Universe repositories, and it is free for up to five machines.


Have additional questions?

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