One-click ‘GNOME’ exploit is a supply-chain risk for Linux OSes

Researchers have uncovered a vulnerability in a library within the GNOME desktop environment for Linux systems. If embedded in a malicious link, it could enable attackers to perform machine takeover in an instant.

GNOME — short for GNU Object Model Environment — is an open source desktop environment implemented by popular Linux distributions like Ubuntu and Fedora.

According to a new blog from the GitHub Security Lab, within one of GNOME’s default applications is a dependency containing a “High” 8.8 out of 10-rated, out-of-bounds array access vulnerability. Because of how the application works, all an attacker would need is one click from a victim in order to execute arbitrary code on a GNOME OS.

It “underscores a critical business risk,” says Igor Volovich, VP of compliance strategy at Qmulos. “For businesses, this is a stark reminder that a single vulnerability, even in seemingly benign software components, can be leveraged for wide-scale compromise, especially when these components are interconnected within larger systems or platforms.”

A Bug in a Dependency, App, Environment, or OS

The new vulnerability — CVE-2023-43641 — isn’t with Linux or GNOME, at least directly.

The issue, rather, lies in “libcue,” an obscure library with just nine forks on GitHub. libcue is used to parse “cue sheets,” a metadata format for describing the layout of tracks on a CD or DVD.

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