CVE-2006-6979
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedThe ruby handlers in the Magnatune component in Amarok do not properly quote text in certain contexts, probably including construction of an unzip command line, which allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands via shell metacharacters.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Magnatune component in Amarok contains a command injection vulnerability in its Ruby handlers. When constructing command lines (specifically for unzip operations), the handlers fail to properly quote or escape shell metacharacters in user-controlled text, allowing arbitrary command execution via shell injection.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE dataall versionsCVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check if Amarok is installedRun 'dpkg -l amarok' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep -i amarok' (RHEL/Fedora) or check your system's package manager for the amarok packageAffected if Amarok is present on the system
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Determine installed Amarok versionRun 'amarok --version' or check the package version via your package manager (e.g., 'dpkg -s amarok' or 'rpm -qi amarok')Affected if Any version of Amarok is installed (all versions are affected per CVE)
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Locate Magnatune configurationSearch for Magnatune-related config files in user directories: ls ~/.kde/share/config/amarok* or ~/.kde4/share/config/amarok* and grep for 'magnatune'Affected if Magnatune configuration exists and is enabled
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Check for Magnatune component loadingInspect Amarok's plugin/component directory for magnatune-related files (e.g., in /usr/lib/kde4/ or ~/.kde4/lib/)Affected if Magnatune component files are present and would load at runtime
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Verify Ruby handler availabilityCheck for Ruby scripting support in Amarok: locate scripts directory (~/.kde/share/apps/amarok/scripts/ or system-wide) and look for any Magnatune-related ruby scriptsAffected if Ruby scripts directory contains Magnatune handlers that process external input
User is affected if Amarok is installed AND the Magnatune component is enabled and can process untrusted input through its Ruby handlers for unzip operations
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpgrade to a patched version of Amarok. If unable to upgrade, disable the Magnatune component or ensure untrusted input cannot reach the vulnerable ruby handler code paths.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2006-6979 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2006-6979 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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