CVE-2020-10174
Publication date 5 March 2020
Last updated 25 August 2025
Ubuntu priority
Description
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.
Status
| Package | Ubuntu Release | Status |
|---|---|---|
| timeshift | ||
| 18.04 LTS bionic | Not in release | |
| 16.04 LTS xenial | Not in release | |
| 14.04 LTS trusty | Not in release |
Severity score breakdown
CVSS version: CVSS v3.0
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
References
Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)
- USN-4312-1
- Timeshift vulnerability
- 30 March 2020