CVE-2019-11461
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 · uneditedAn issue was discovered in GNOME Nautilus 3.30 prior to 3.30.6 and 3.32 prior to 3.32.1. A compromised thumbnailer may escape the bubblewrap sandbox used to confine thumbnailers by using the TIOCSTI ioctl to push characters into the input buffer of the thumbnailer's controlling terminal, allowing an attacker to escape the sandbox if the thumbnailer has a controlling terminal. This is due to improper filtering of the TIOCSTI ioctl on 64-bit systems, similar to CVE-2019-10063.
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 confidenceGNOME Nautilus versions 3.30 prior to 3.30.6 and 3.32 prior to 3.32.1 contain a sandbox escape vulnerability in the thumbnailer component. A compromised thumbnailer can exploit improper filtering of the TIOCSTI ioctl on 64-bit systems to inject characters into the controlling terminal's input buffer, escaping the bubblewrap sandbox isolation.
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 data>= 3.30, < 3.30.6>= 3.32, < 3.32.1CVSS 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
- Local
- Complexity
- High
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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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Verify Nautilus is installedRun 'nautilus --version' or check your package manager for the nautilus packageAffected if Nautilus is not installed, the CVE does not apply
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Identify installed Nautilus versionExecute 'nautilus --version' and note the version number (e.g., 3.30.5, 3.32.0)Affected if Command fails or Nautilus is not found, skip further checks
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Compare version against affected rangesCheck if the installed version falls within >= 3.30.0 but < 3.30.6, OR >= 3.32.0 but < 3.32.1Affected if Version is 3.30.0 through 3.30.5 inclusive, or 3.32.0 inclusive, the system is potentially affected
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Confirm system architectureRun 'uname -m' or 'arch' to verify 64-bit architecture (x86_64 or aarch64)Affected if System is 32-bit, the specific TIOCSTI injection vector described in this CVE does not apply
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Determine if thumbnailer feature is in useCheck if Nautilus is configured to generate thumbnails for files (this is the vulnerable component). Inspect if files with thumbnails (images, PDFs, etc.) are commonly accessed.Affected if Nautilus thumbnail generation is disabled or never used, exploitation likelihood is reduced though the vulnerability still exists in the binary
The environment is affected if Nautilus version is 3.30.0-3.30.5 or 3.32.0, running on a 64-bit system with thumbnail generation enabled.
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 data3.30.63.32.1
Update Nautilus to version 3.30.6 or 3.32.1 or later to obtain the patched binary that properly filters the TIOCSTI ioctl.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-11461 — 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-2019-11461 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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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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