Vulnerability in Timeshift Project

CVE-2020-10174

init_tmp in TeeJee.FileSystem.vala in Timeshift before 20.03 unsafely reuses a preexisting temporary directory in the predictable location /tmp/timeshift. It follows symlinks in this location or uses directories owned by unprivileged users. Because Timeshift also executes scripts under this location, an attacker can attempt to win a race condition to replace scripts created by Timeshift with attacker-controlled scripts. Upon success, an attacker-controlled script is executed with full root privileges. This logic is practically always triggered when Timeshift runs regardless of the command-line arguments used.

EPSS: 0.003 (20.2th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 7.0 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2020-10174?
CVE-2020-10174 is a high-severity vulnerability in Timeshift Project, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 7.0/10. Published 2020-03-05.
How severe is CVE-2020-10174?
High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.0 out of 10.