Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-28101

Flatpak ≤ 1.10.8

Published
16 March 2023
Modified
21 November 2024
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 5.0
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0089 56th percentile
Risk Priority 41 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-28101 is a medium-severity Improper Encoding or Escaping of Output (CWE-116) vulnerability in Flatpak Flatpak. Its CVSS base score is 5.0 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Content Injection (T1659); ranked in the top 44% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Flatpak is a system for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux. In versions prior to 1.10.8, 1.12.8, 1.14.4, and 1.15.4, if an attacker publishes a Flatpak app with elevated permissions, they can hide those permissions from users…

more

of the `flatpak(1)` command-line interface by setting other permissions to crafted values that contain non-printable control characters such as `ESC`. A fix is available in versions 1.10.8, 1.12.8, 1.14.4, and 1.15.4. As a workaround, use a GUI like GNOME Software rather than the command-line interface, or only install apps whose maintainers you trust.

CWE(s)
CWE-116

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter Execution
Adversaries may abuse command and script interpreters to execute commands, scripts, or binaries.
attack.mitre.org →
T1203 Exploitation for Client Execution Execution
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in client applications to execute code.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-28100Same product: Flatpak Flatpak
CVE-2026-34079Same product: Flatpak Flatpak
CVE-2026-34078Same product: Flatpak Flatpak
CVE-2024-42472Same product: Flatpak Flatpak
CVE-2023-45539Shared CWE-116
CVE-2025-55730Shared CWE-116
CVE-2026-20136Shared CWE-116
CVE-2025-9127Shared CWE-116
CVE-2026-34483Shared CWE-116
CVE-2023-35941Shared CWE-116

Affected Assets

flatpak
flatpak
≤ 1.10.8 · 1.12.0 — 1.12.8 · 1.14.0 — 1.14.4

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.2.1
  • V1.2.3

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering
addresses: CWE-116

Validating that output matches expected content directly mitigates failures to properly encode or escape data for its destination context.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly require proper output encoding to prevent injection and message malformation.

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.28 Secure coding mostly match
prevents

Secure coding standards explicitly require correct output encoding and escaping to preserve message structure.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Security testing can detect missing or incorrect encoding but does not itself implement the control.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Secure development life cycle mandates output encoding/escaping practices that directly prevent improper encoding.

A.8.26 Application security requirements partial match
prevents

Application security requirements include explicit rules for safe output handling and encoding.

A.8.27 Secure system architecture and engineering principles partial match
prevents

Secure architecture principles reduce the likelihood of missing encoding but do not prescribe the actual technique.

References