FedoraOperating system · Fedoraproject

CVE-2022-21682

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-01-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.2.2 / 1.10.7 or later.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click Patch available

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
Flatpak is a Linux application sandboxing and distribution framework. A path traversal vulnerability affects versions of Flatpak prior to 1.12.3 and 1.10.6. flatpak-builder applies `finish-args` last in the build. At this point the build directory will have the full access that is specified in the manifest, so running `flatpak build` against it will gain those permissions. Normally this will not be done, so this is not problem. However, if `--mirror-screenshots-url` is specified, then flatpak-builder will launch `flatpak build --nofilesystem=host appstream-utils mirror-screenshots` after finalization, which can lead to issues even with the `--nofilesystem=host` protection. In normal use, the only issue is that these empty directories can be created wherever the user has write permissions. However, a malicious application could replace the `appstream-util` binary and potentially do something more hostile. This has been resolved in Flatpak 1.12.3 and 1.10.6 by changing the behaviour of `--nofilesystem=home` and `--nofilesystem=host`.

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
How this class of weakness works · CWE-22

A file path is built from user input without being confined, so sequences like “../” let an attacker step outside the intended directory. That can expose configuration, credentials, or source code, and in the worst case lets an attacker write files where they shouldn't. A durable fix resolves and canonicalises the path, then rejects anything that escapes a known-safe base directory.

General guidance for the path traversal class — the official description and references above are authoritative for this specific CVE. Want a bespoke review and a reviewed fix? Ask our team →

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
FedoraOperating system
Affected:= 35
Enterprise LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 8.0
Debian LinuxOperating system
Affected:= 9.0= 10.0= 11.0
FlatpakApplication
Affected:< 1.10.7>= 1.11.1, < 1.12.4
Flatpak BuilderApplication
Affected:< 1.2.2

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.2.2 / 1.10.7 / 1.12.4 or later
Fixed in 1.2.21.10.71.12.4
Vendor patch github.com →
Recommended fix High confidence

Flatpak 1.10.6 or 1.12.3 (or later); Flatpak Builder 1.2.2 or later

  1. Identify the current Flatpak version using `flatpak --version`
  2. For Flatpak: Upgrade to version 1.10.6 or 1.12.3 (or later) based on your current branch. On Fedora, run `sudo dnf update flatpak`. On Debian/Ubuntu, run `sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade flatpak`. On Enterprise Linux, run `sudo dnf update flatpak`. For Flatpak Builder, upgrade to version 1.2.2 or later.
  3. After upgrading, verify the fix is applied by checking the version: `flatpak --version` should show >= 1.10.6 or >= 1.12.3
  4. For Flatpak Builder, check with `flatpak-builder --version`

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

We can perform the upgrade in your staging environment and verify nothing breaks — typical engagement from $1,600. Get the upgrade done

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2022-21682 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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