dbcve.org
EvolutionApplication · Gnome

CVE-2020-11879

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2020-04-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.35.91 or later.
See remediation →
72/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
An issue was discovered in GNOME Evolution before 3.35.91. By using the proprietary (non-RFC6068) "mailto?attach=..." parameter, a website (or other source of mailto links) can make Evolution attach local files or directories to a composed email message without showing a warning to the user, as demonstrated by an attach=. value.

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 confidence

GNOME Evolution before 3.35.91 allows arbitrary local file/directory attachment via the proprietary mailto:attach= parameter (non-RFC6068). A malicious website can trigger the email client to attach sensitive local files to a composed message without user warning, enabling information disclosure.

MitigationUpgrade GNOME Evolution to version 3.35.91 or later. Alternatively, avoid using Evolution as the default mail handler until patched, or implement browser/content filtering to block malicious mailto: links.

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
EvolutionApplication
Affected:< 3.35.91

CVSS 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
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

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

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed GNOME Evolution version
    Run 'evolution --version' or look for Evolution in your package manager (dpkg -l | grep evolution, rpm -q evolution, etc.)
    Affected if Version is lower than 3.35.91
  2. Verify if Evolution is the default mail handler
    On GNOME systems: go to Settings > Default Applications > Email, or check xdg-mime query default email for 'evolution'
    Affected if Evolution is set as the default email/mailto handler and version is vulnerable
  3. Confirm mailto: protocol handler registration
    Run 'xdg-mime query default x-scheme-handler/mailto' to see which application handles mailto: links
    Affected if Evolution handles mailto: links and version is vulnerable

You are affected if GNOME Evolution version is below 3.35.91 AND Evolution is set as your default email/mailto handler, allowing malicious websites to attach local files via mailto: links.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 3.35.91 or later
Fixed in 3.35.91
Interim mitigation

Upgrade GNOME Evolution to version 3.35.91 or later. Alternatively, avoid using Evolution as the default mail handler until patched, or implement browser/content filtering to block malicious mailto: links.

Fix this in Evolution Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2020-11879 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data