1. Ubuntu Security Notices
  2. USN-4700-1

USN-4700-1: PyXDG vulnerability

Publication date

19 January 2021

Overview

PyXDG could be made to run programs as your login if it received specially crafted input.

Releases

Packages

  • pyxdg - python library to access freedesktop.org standards

Details

Alexandre D’Hondt discovered that PyXDG did not properly sanitize input.
An attacker could exploit this with a crafted .menu file to execute
arbitrary code.

Alexandre D’Hondt discovered that PyXDG did not properly sanitize input.
An attacker could exploit this with a crafted .menu file to execute
arbitrary code.

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
18.04 bionic python-xdg –  0.25-4ubuntu1.1
python3-xdg –  0.25-4ubuntu1.1
16.04 xenial python-xdg –  0.25-4ubuntu0.16.04.1
python3-xdg –  0.25-4ubuntu0.16.04.1
14.04 trusty python-xdg –  0.25-4ubuntu0.14.04.1~esm1  
python3-xdg –  0.25-4ubuntu0.14.04.1~esm1  

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References

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