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Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection')

CVE-2021-41146

Severity High
Score 8.8/10

Summary

qutebrowser is an open source keyboard-focused browser with a minimal GUI. Starting with qutebrowser v1.7.0, the Windows installer for qutebrowser registers a `qutebrowserurl:` URL handler. With certain applications, opening a specially crafted `qutebrowserurl:...` URL can lead to execution of qutebrowser commands, which in turn allows arbitrary code execution via commands such as `:spawn` or `:debug-pyeval`. Only Windows installs where qutebrowser is registered as URL handler are affected. The issue has been fixed in qutebrowser v2.4.0. The fix also adds additional hardening for potential similar issues on Linux (by adding the new --untrusted-args flag to the .desktop file), though no such vulnerabilities are known.

  • LOW
  • NETWORK
  • HIGH
  • UNCHANGED
  • REQUIRED
  • NONE
  • HIGH
  • HIGH

CWE-77 - Command Injection

A command injection attack involves injecting an operating system command through the data input, which gets executed on the host operating system with the privileges of the victimized application. The impact of a command injection attack may range from loss of data confidentiality and integrity to unauthorized remote access to the hosting system. The attack may cause serious data breaches and system takeover.

References

Advisory Timeline

  • Published