If you are running a KDE desktop environment on your Linux operating system, you need to be extra careful and avoid downloading any “.desktop” or “.directory” file for a while.
A cybersecurity researcher has disclosed an unpatched zero-day vulnerability in the KDE software framework that could allow maliciously crafted .desktop and .directory files to silently run arbitrary code on a user’s computer—without even requiring the victim to actually open it.
KDE Plasma is one of the most popular open-source widget-based desktop environment for Linux users and comes as a default desktop environment on many Linux distributions, such as Manjaro, openSUSE, Kubuntu, and PCLinuxOS.
Security researcher Dominik Penner who discovered the vulnerability contacted The Hacker News, informing that there’s a command injection vulnerability in KDE 4/5 Plasma desktop due to the way KDE handles .desktop and .directory files.
“When a .desktop or .directory file is instantiated, it unsafely evaluates environment variables and shell expansions using KConfigPrivate::expandString() via the KConfigGroup::readEntry() function,” Penner said.
images from Hacker News
Recent Comments