REDHAT-BUG-2539423: Low severity Flatpak Flatpak vulnerability

Published Sep 23, 2026
·
Updated

GHSA-2fxp-43j9-pwvc (https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/security/advisories/GHSA-2fxp-43j9-pwvc)

Description: The OCI code paths in the system helper will follow symlinks when importing OCI images which are under the user's control, allowing a malicious user to get read-access to files in the system-helper context if a system OCI repository is configured.

Mitigation: Remove all OCI system remotes. Patched in 1.16.4 and 1.18.0. Credit: @smcv.

Affected Software

1 affected component
Flatpak Flatpak<1.16.4, >=1.17.0<1.18.0

Remediation

Recommended actions to resolve this vulnerability, in priority order.

  1. Upgrade

    Upgrade flatpak to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.16.4
  2. Upgrade

    Upgrade flatpak to a version that resolves this vulnerability.

    Fixed in 1.18.0
  3. Compensating control

    Remove all OCI system remotes.

Event History

Sep 23, 2026
Data Sourced
via Red Hat·02:04 PM
DescriptionSeverityAffected Software

Frequently Asked Questions

1

Which deployments are exposed to this issue?

Systems are exposed if they have an OCI system remote configured and allow a malicious user to control OCI images imported through the system helper.

2

What does an attacker need to exploit it?

An attacker needs control over an OCI image that is imported through the affected system-helper OCI code path. The issue relies on symlinks in that image being followed during import.

3

What could exploitation allow?

A malicious user could gain read access to files accessible in the system-helper context.

4

What can be done if updating is not immediately possible?

Remove all OCI system remotes to mitigate the issue.

5

Which versions contain fixes?

The issue is patched in Flatpak 1.16.4 and 1.18.0.

Contact

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