CVE-2017-14604

Summary

CVECVE-2017-14604
StatePUBLIC
Assigner[email protected]
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2017-09-20 08:29:00 UTC
Updated2020-08-18 15:05:00 UTC
DescriptionGNOME 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.

Risk And Classification

Problem Types: CWE-20

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 10.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 8.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 9.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 10.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 8.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 9.0 All All All
Application Gnome Nautilus All All All All
Application Gnome Nautilus All All All All

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
Breaking the Security Model of Subgraph OS | Micah Lee's Blog MISC micahflee.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory
Red Hat Customer Portal REDHAT access.redhat.com Third Party Advisory
Bug 777991 – Nautilus hides filename for .desktop files with execute permission MISC bugzilla.gnome.org Issue Tracking, Vendor Advisory
#860268 - nautilus: CVE-2017-14604: .desktop files can hide malware in Nautilus - Debian Bug report logs MISC bugs.debian.org Issue Tracking, Third Party Advisory
Investigate potential attempt to compromise SVS · Issue #2238 · freedomofpress/securedrop · GitHub MISC github.com Third Party Advisory
release: prepare for 3.23.90 · GNOME/nautilus@bc91920 · GitHub MISC github.com Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
mime-actions: use file metadata for trusting desktop files · GNOME/nautilus@1630f53 · GitHub MISC github.com Issue Tracking, Patch, Third Party Advisory
Debian -- Security Information -- DSA-3994-1 nautilus DEBIAN www.debian.org Third Party Advisory
Malformed Request BID www.securityfocus.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis
© CVE.report 2026 |

Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. It is the responsibility of user to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content. EACH USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY consequences of his or her direct or indirect use of this web site. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. This site will NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT or any other kind of loss.

CVE, CWE, and OVAL are registred trademarks of The MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. This site includes MITRE data granted under the following license.

CVE.report and Source URL Uptime Status status.cve.report