CVE-2026-46529
Published Jun 10, 2026
Last updated 10 days ago
AI description
CVE-2026-46529 is identified as a command injection vulnerability impacting document viewers such as Evince, Atril, and Xreader. The flaw stems from inadequate quoting of shell-like input within the `ev_spawn()` function in `ev-application.c`. This vulnerability can be exploited through a PDF /GoToR action argv injection, which leverages the `--gtk-module dlopen` mechanism. This allows for the execution of arbitrary code, potentially via a single-click interaction with a specially crafted PDF file.
- Description
- Atril Document Viewer is the default document reader of the MATE desktop environment for Linux. A single-click remote code execution vulnerability in versions prior to 1.26.3 and 1.28.4 allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution as the user by tricking them into clicking a link inside a malicious PDF document. The PDF can be packaged as a polyglot file that is simultaneously a valid PDF and a valid ELF shared library, making the attack a single-file, single-click, configuration-independent RCE on stock atril installations. The root cause is `shell/ev-application.c:ev_spawn`, which builds a command line from attacker-controlled PDF link-destination fields without applying `g_shell_quote`. The cmdline is then handed to `g_app_info_create_from_commandline`, which shell-parses it back into argv — splitting any embedded `--gtk-module=PATH` into a separate argv element. GTK then `dlopen()`s the path during init, running any `__attribute__((constructor))` it finds. Versions 1.26.3 and 1.28.4 contain a patch for the issue. This is the same defect class as CVE-2023-51698 (CBT `--checkpoint-action` injection in `comics-document.c`, fixed in 1.6.2) but in a different code path (`shell/ev-application.c`) that the original patch did not touch.
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
- NVD status
- Deferred
CVSS 4.0
- Type
- Secondary
- Base score
- 8.4
- Impact score
- -
- Exploitability score
- -
- Vector string
- CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
- Severity
- HIGH
CVSS 3.1
- Type
- Secondary
- Base score
- 7.8
- Impact score
- 5.9
- Exploitability score
- 1.8
- Vector string
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Severity
- HIGH
- Hype score
- Not currently trending
10-Year-Old RCE Found in Linux PDF Viewers 🤯🔥 CVE-2026-46529 affects XReader, Evince, and Atril, allowing code execution through a malicious PDF. Huge find by N1et 👏 🔗 https://t.co/gf99UTM5fX #CyberSecurity #Linux #RCE #CVE Join team 👉https://t.co/FeMz53HSN0 ht
@luckyhacker43
14 Jun 2026
3947 Impressions
25 Retweets
122 Likes
59 Bookmarks
0 Replies
1 Quote
1/ From all the recent writeups, I pick a few to read carefully and enjoy while drinking 🧉 and eating chipa, the way I did before with every (yes) Bugtraq post. This week: Qualys ptrace LPE, CVE-2026-46333 — no AI Linux PDF RCE, CVE-2026-46529 — human+AI Both are worth re
@julianor
23 May 2026
3378 Impressions
8 Retweets
42 Likes
19 Bookmarks
1 Reply
0 Quotes