In KDE Frameworks KConfig before 5.61.0, malicious desktop files and configuration files lead to code execution with minimal user interaction. This relates to libKF5ConfigCore.so, and the mishandling of .desktop and .directory files, as demonstrated by a shell command on an Icon line in a .desktop file.

An update for kdelibs and kde-setting is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) is a graphical desktop environment for the X Window System. The kdelibs packages include core libraries for the K Desktop Environment.

Security Fix(es) :

* kdelibs: malicious desktop files and configuration files lead to code execution with minimal user interaction (CVE-2019-14744)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Bug Fix(es) :

* kde.csh profile file contains bourne-shell code (BZ#1740042)

Note that Tenable Network Security has attempted to extract the preceding description block directly from the corresponding Red Hat security advisory. Virtuozzo provides no description for VZLSA advisories. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

The remote Redhat Enterprise Linux 7 host has packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability as referenced in the RHSA-2020:2833 advisory.

  - kdelibs: malicious desktop files and configuration files lead to code execution with minimal user     interaction (CVE-2019-14744)

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote NewStart CGSL host, running version CORE 5.05 / MAIN 5.05, has kdelibs packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability:

  - In KDE Frameworks KConfig before 5.61.0, malicious     desktop files and configuration files lead to code     execution with minimal user interaction. This relates to     libKF5ConfigCore.so, and the mishandling of .desktop and     .directory files, as demonstrated by a shell command on     an Icon line in a .desktop file. (CVE-2019-14744)

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

The remote NewStart CGSL host, running version CORE 5.04 / MAIN 5.04, has kdelibs packages installed that are affected by a vulnerability:

  - In KDE Frameworks KConfig before 5.61.0, malicious     desktop files and configuration files lead to code     execution with minimal user interaction. This relates to     libKF5ConfigCore.so, and the mishandling of .desktop and     .directory files, as demonstrated by a shell command on     an Icon line in a .desktop file. (CVE-2019-14744)

Note that Nessus has not tested for this issue but has instead relied only on the application's self-reported version number.

An update for kdelibs and kde-setting is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) is a graphical desktop environment for the X Window System. The kdelibs packages include core libraries for the K Desktop Environment.

Security Fix(es) :

* kdelibs: malicious desktop files and configuration files lead to code execution with minimal user interaction (CVE-2019-14744)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Bug Fix(es) :

* kde.csh profile file contains bourne-shell code (BZ#1740042)

- kdelibs: malicious desktop files and configuration files     lead to code&#13; execution with minimal user     interaction (CVE-2019-14744)&#13; &#13; Bug     Fix(es):&#13; &#13;

  - kde.csh profile file contains bourne-shell code&#13;
    --&#13;

From Red Hat Security Advisory 2019:2606 :

An update for kdelibs and kde-setting is now available for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.

Red Hat Product Security has rated this update as having a security impact of Important. A Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) base score, which gives a detailed severity rating, is available for each vulnerability from the CVE link(s) in the References section.

The K Desktop Environment (KDE) is a graphical desktop environment for the X Window System. The kdelibs packages include core libraries for the K Desktop Environment.

Security Fix(es) :

* kdelibs: malicious desktop files and configuration files lead to code execution with minimal user interaction (CVE-2019-14744)

For more details about the security issue(s), including the impact, a CVSS score, acknowledgments, and other related information, refer to the CVE page(s) listed in the References section.

Bug Fix(es) :

* kde.csh profile file contains bourne-shell code (BZ#1740042)

This update fixes **CVE-2019-14744 (kconfig arbitrary shell code execution)** in the compatibility library `kdelibs` 4 used by legacy applications (not yet ported to KDE Frameworks 5). The included `kde-settings` update removes obsolete settings that conflict with the security fix and are no longer needed (see below for details).

The full list of fixes in the `kdelibs` 4 build :

  - fixes **CVE-2019-14744 (#1740138, #1740140)** &ndash;
    `kconfig`: malicious `.desktop` files (and others) would     execute code. KConfig had a well-meaning feature that     allowed configuration files to execute arbitrary shell     commands. Unfortunately, this could be abused by     untrusted `.desktop` files to execute arbitrary code as     the target user, without the user even running the     `.desktop` file. Therefore, this update removes that     ill-fated feature. (Patch from upstream: `kf5-kconfig`     fix by David Faure, `kdelibs` 4 backport by Kai Uwe     Broulik.)

  - fixes **#917848** &ndash; removes support for the     `gamin` file watching service which is unmaintained and     buggy and can lead to application lockups. KDirWatch now     relies exclusively on `inotify` (directly). (Packaging     fix by Rex Dieter.)

  - fixes **#1730770** &ndash; removes an unused dependency     on the obsolete `xf86misc` library. (Packaging fix by     Kevin Kofler.)

The fixes in the `kde-settings` build remove settings that were calling `xdg-user-dir`, because the above CVE-2019-14744 fix drops support for running shell commands from configuration files from KConfig and because the settings are all no longer needed (because they either only reproduce default behavior or were commented out) :

  -     `/usr/share/kde-settings/kde-profile/default/share/confi     g/kdeglobals`,     `/usr/share/kde-settings/kde-profile/minimal/share/confi     g/kdeglobals`: Remove the `[Paths]` section. The     `Desktop` and `Documents` directories that were set     there are already detected by default by `kdelibs` 4 (it     has native support for xdg-user-dirs and does not need     the external `xdg-user-dir` command invocation), and now     also by `kdelibs3 >= 3.5.10-101` (which has native     xdg-user-dirs support backported). The `Trash` setting     was already commented out.

  -     `/usr/share/kde-settings/kde-profile/default/xdg/baloofi     lerc`: Delete the commented-out `folders` setting that     attempts to call `xdg-user-dir`.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

It was discovered that KConfig and KDE libraries have a vulnerability where an attacker could hide malicious code under desktop and configuration files. (CVE-2019-14744)

It was discovered that KConfig allows remote attackers to write to arbitrary files via a ../ in a filename in an archive file.
(CVE-2016-6232).

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Ubuntu security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

The remote host is affected by the vulnerability described in GLSA-201908-07 (KDE KConfig: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code)

    A vulnerability was discovered in KDE KConfig&rsquo;s handling of .desktop       and .directory files.
  Impact :

    An attacker could entice a user to execute a specially crafted .desktop       or .directory file possibly resulting in execution of arbitrary code with       the privileges of the process.
  Workaround :

    There is no known workaround at this time.

This update fixes **CVE-2019-14744 (kconfig arbitrary shell code execution)** in the KDE 3 compatibility version of kdelibs used by legacy KDE 3 applications.

The full list of fixes in this `kdelibs3` build :

  - fixes **CVE-2019-14744** - `kconfig`: malicious     `.desktop` files (and others) would execute code.
    KConfig had a well-meaning feature that allowed     configuration files to execute arbitrary shell commands.
    Unfortunately, this could be abused by untrusted     `.desktop` files to execute arbitrary code as the target     user, without the user even running the `.desktop` file.
    Therefore, this update removes that ill-fated feature.
    (Backported by Kevin Kofler from upstream: `kf5-kconfig`     fix by David Faure, `kdelibs` 4 backport by Kai Uwe     Broulik.)

  - adds native support for **xdg-user-dirs** for *Desktop*     and *Documents*, without shelling out to `xdg-user-dir`     from the config file. This is needed due to the above     security fix. (This feature was previously implemented     in the Fedora `kde-settings` by shelling out to     `xdg-user-dir` from the config file using the KConfig     feature removed above.) (Backported by Kevin Kofler from     Trinity Desktop / Timothy Pearson.)

  - fixes a **KJS double-free** that could crash legacy KDE     3 applications such as Quanta Plus when trying to     execute JavaScript. (Backported by OpenSUSE / Wolfgang     Bauer from Trinity Desktop / Timothy Pearson.)

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

Dominik Penner discovered a flaw in how KConfig interpreted shell commands in desktop files and other configuration files. An attacker may trick users into installing specially crafted files which could then be used to execute arbitrary code, e.g. a file manager trying to find out the icon for a file or any application using KConfig. Thus the entire feature of supporting shell commands in KConfig entries has been removed.

For Debian 8 'Jessie', this problem has been fixed in version 4:4.14.2-5+deb8u3.

We recommend that you upgrade your kde4libs packages.

NOTE: Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the DLA security advisory. Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

This update for kconfig, kdelibs4 fixes the following issues :

  - CVE-2019-14744: Fixed a command execution by an shell     expansion (boo#1144600).

Backport upstream fix for CVE-2019-14744 security issue.

Note that Tenable Network Security has extracted the preceding description block directly from the Fedora update system website.
Tenable has attempted to automatically clean and format it as much as possible without introducing additional issues.

New kdelibs packages are available for Slackware 14.2 and -current to fix a security issue.

The KDE Community has released a security announcement :

The syntax Key[$e]=$(shell command) in *.desktop files, .directory files, and configuration files (typically found in ~/.config) was an intentional feature of KConfig, to allow flexible configuration. This could however be abused by malicious people to make the users install such files and get code executed even without intentional action by the user.

Dominik Penner discovered that KConfig, the KDE configuration settings framework, supported a feature to define shell command execution in .desktop files. If a user is provided with a malformed .desktop file (e.g. if it's embedded into a downloaded archive and it gets opened in a file browser) arbitrary commands could get executed. This update removes this feature.

ID	Name	Product	Family	Severity
144250	Virtuozzo 7 : kdelibs / kdelibs-apidocs / kdelibs-common / etc (VZLSA-2019-2606)	Nessus	Virtuozzo Local Security Checks	high
138153	RHEL 7 : kdelibs (RHSA-2020:2833)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
132466	NewStart CGSL CORE 5.05 / MAIN 5.05 : kdelibs Vulnerability (NS-SA-2019-0254)	Nessus	NewStart CGSL Local Security Checks	high
131419	NewStart CGSL CORE 5.04 / MAIN 5.04 : kdelibs Vulnerability (NS-SA-2019-0223)	Nessus	NewStart CGSL Local Security Checks	high
129021	CentOS 7 : kde-settings / kdelibs (CESA-2019:2606)	Nessus	CentOS Local Security Checks	high
128500	Scientific Linux Security Update : kdelibs and kde-settings on SL7.x x86_64 (20190903)	Nessus	Scientific Linux Local Security Checks	high
128496	RHEL 7 : kdelibs and kde-settings (RHSA-2019:2606)	Nessus	Red Hat Local Security Checks	high
128494	Oracle Linux 7 : kde-settings / kdelibs (ELSA-2019-2606)	Nessus	Oracle Linux Local Security Checks	high
128399	Fedora 29 : 6:kdelibs / kde-settings (2019-39d23c7a94)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
128025	Ubuntu 16.04 LTS / 18.04 LTS : KConfig and KDE libraries vulnerabilities (USN-4100-1)	Nessus	Ubuntu Local Security Checks	high
127956	GLSA-201908-07 : KDE KConfig: User-assisted execution of arbitrary code	Nessus	Gentoo Local Security Checks	high
127944	Fedora 30 : kdelibs3 (2019-f9f78895c3)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
127940	Fedora 29 : kdelibs3 (2019-9f2ee52c88)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
127926	Debian DLA-1890-1 : kde4libs security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high
127883	openSUSE Security Update : kconfig / kdelibs4 (openSUSE-2019-1851)	Nessus	SuSE Local Security Checks	high
127873	Fedora 30 : 6:kdelibs / kde-settings (2019-a746ac9c89)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
127824	Fedora 30 : kf5-kconfig (2019-48b691092f)	Nessus	Fedora Local Security Checks	high
127730	Slackware 14.2 / current : kdelibs (SSA:2019-220-01)	Nessus	Slackware Local Security Checks	high
127556	FreeBSD : KDE Frameworks -- malicious .desktop files execute code (f5f0a640-bae8-11e9-bb3a-001e2a3f778d)	Nessus	FreeBSD Local Security Checks	high
127490	Debian DSA-4494-1 : kconfig - security update	Nessus	Debian Local Security Checks	high

Detections

Analytics

CVE-2019-14744

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Tenable Plugins

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