CVE-2024-42029 – This vulnerability in xdg-desktop-portal-hyprla... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-42029?

CVE-2024-42029 has a CVSS score of 6.3 (MEDIUM). This vulnerability in xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland allows OS command injection due to improper escaping when passing application IDs and titles via environment variables. Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on affected systems by manipulating these values. Users of Hyprland Wayland compositor with the vulnerable portal backend are affected.

📋 TL;DR

This vulnerability in xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland allows OS command injection due to improper escaping when passing application IDs and titles via environment variables. Attackers can execute arbitrary commands on affected systems by manipulating these values. Users of Hyprland Wayland compositor with the vulnerable portal backend are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland

Versions: All versions before 1.3.3

Operating Systems: Linux distributions using Hyprland Wayland compositor

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Only affects systems using Hyprland as the Wayland compositor with the xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland backend installed.

⚠️ Manual Verification Required

This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.

Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).

🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.

Recommended Actions:

Review the CVE details at NVD
Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Full system compromise with root privileges, allowing installation of persistent malware, data exfiltration, or complete system takeover.

🟠

Likely Case

Local privilege escalation or arbitrary command execution in user context, potentially leading to lateral movement within the system.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper isolation and minimal user privileges, potentially only affecting the user's session.

🌐 Internet-Facing: LOW - This is primarily a local vulnerability requiring user interaction or local access.

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM - Could be exploited by malicious local users or through social engineering attacks within the organization.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW - The vulnerability is straightforward command injection via environment variable manipulation.

Exploitation requires local access or ability to influence environment variables passed to the portal service.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 1.3.3

Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/hyprwm/xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland/releases/tag/v1.3.3

Restart Required: Yes

Instructions:

1. Update xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland to version 1.3.3 or later. 2. Restart the portal service: 'systemctl --user restart xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland'. 3. Restart Hyprland session to ensure all components use the patched version.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland

linux

Temporarily disable the vulnerable portal backend until patched

systemctl --user stop xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland
systemctl --user disable xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland

Use alternative portal backend

linux

Switch to a different XDG Desktop Portal backend (e.g., xdg-desktop-portal-gnome or xdg-desktop-portal-kde)

sudo pacman -S xdg-desktop-portal-gnome
systemctl --user enable --now xdg-desktop-portal-gnome

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Isolate affected systems from critical network segments
Implement strict user privilege separation and monitor for suspicious command execution

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check installed version: 'xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland --version' or 'pacman -Qi xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland' on Arch-based systems

Check Version:

xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland --version

Verify Fix Applied:

Verify version is 1.3.3 or higher: 'xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland --version | grep -q "1\\.3\\.3\|1\\.4" && echo "Patched"'

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual command execution from xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland process
Suspicious environment variables containing shell metacharacters

Network Indicators:

Unexpected outbound connections from user sessions

SIEM Query:

process.name="xdg-desktop-portal-hyprland" AND cmdline contains suspicious characters like ;, |, &, $, (, )

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-42029

CVSS v3 Score: 6.3 (MEDIUM)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

CWE: CWE-78

Published: July 27, 2024

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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