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MinetestApplication

CVE-2022-35978

CRITICAL · 10.0 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.6.0 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Minetest is a free open-source voxel game engine with easy modding and game creation. In **single player**, a mod can set a global setting that controls the Lua script loaded to display the main menu. The script is then loaded as soon as the game session is exited. The Lua environment the menu runs in is not sandboxed and can directly interfere with the user's system. There are currently no known workarounds.

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

In single-player Minetest, a mod can set a global setting that controls which Lua script loads for the main menu. When the game session exits, this script executes in an unsandboxed Lua environment with direct system access, allowing arbitrary command execution.

MitigationUsers should only install mods from trusted sources. The vendor must implement proper Lua sandboxing for the menu script environment to prevent arbitrary system interference.

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
MinetestApplication
Affected:< 5.6.0

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
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 checks

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

  1. Check Minetest version
    Run 'minetest --version' or look for the version in the game's main window/launcher
    Affected if The installed version is below 5.6.0
  2. Confirm single-player mode usage
    Verify the game is being played in single-player mode (not a dedicated server). This is the default mode when launching Minetest locally.
    Affected if Running in single-player mode (default local play)
  3. Review installed mods
    Inspect the 'mods' folder in the Minetest user data directory (commonly ~/.minetest/mods or in the game directory). Check each mod's init.lua and any configuration files for settings that control which script loads for the main menu.
    Affected if Any mod sets a global setting that specifies a Lua script to load for the main menu, and that script executes with system access upon game exit
  4. Inspect configuration files for menu script settings
    Search Minetest config files (minetest.conf, world-specific config files) and mod configuration files for any setting that specifies a menu script path or controls menu Lua execution.
    Affected if A configuration specifies a custom menu script that would execute with unsandboxed system access when the game session exits

You are affected if running Minetest version below 5.6.0 in single-player mode with any mod or configuration that sets a global setting to load a custom main menu script, leading to unsandboxed Lua execution with system access upon game exit.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.6.0 or later
Fixed in 5.6.0
Vendor patch github.com →
Interim mitigation

Users should only install mods from trusted sources. The vendor must implement proper Lua sandboxing for the menu script environment to prevent arbitrary system interference.

Recommended fix High confidence

Minetest 5.6.0

  1. Backup your Minetest world data and configuration files located in your Minetest user directory
  2. Download Minetest version 5.6.0 or later from the official source at https://www.minetest.net/downloads/
  3. Install the new version, replacing your current installation
  4. Launch Minetest and verify the version number shows 5.6.0 or higher in the settings or about menu

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

Fix this in Minetest Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation8.0 h
  • Implementation24.0 h
  • Testing12.0 h
  • Review / QA8.0 h
52.0 hours of engineering $9,160
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $14,656.

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-2022-35978 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