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No exploitation reportedFix available

CVE-2021-43860

No exploitation reported by the sources we read.

  • Published2022-01-12
  • WeaknessCWE-269 · CWE-276

Am I affected?

With a domain, we read the version its public headers and pages expose. A distribution build can carry the fix under an older number.

Description

Flatpak is a Linux application sandboxing and distribution framework. Prior to versions 1.12.3 and 1.10.6, Flatpak doesn't properly validate that the permissions displayed to the user for an app at install time match the actual permissions granted to the app at runtime, in the case that there's a null byte in the metadata file of an app. Therefore apps can grant themselves permissions without the consent of the user. Flatpak shows permissions to the user during install by reading them from the "xa.metadata" key in the commit metadata. This cannot contain a null terminator, because it is an untrusted GVariant. Flatpak compares these permissions to the *actual* metadata, from the "metadata" file to ensure it wasn't lied to. However, the actual metadata contents are loaded in several places where they are read as simple C-style strings. That means that, if the metadata file includes a null terminator, only the content of the file from *before* the terminator gets compared to xa.metadata. Thus, any permissions that appear in the metadata file after a null terminator are applied at runtime but not shown to the user. So maliciously crafted apps can give themselves hidden permissions. Users who have Flatpaks installed from untrusted sources are at risk in case the Flatpak has a maliciously crafted metadata file, either initially or in an update. This issue is patched in versions 1.12.3 and 1.10.6. As a workaround, users can manually check the permissions of installed apps by checking the metadata file or the xa.metadata key on the commit metadata.

Timeline

dates in UTC
  1. 2022-01-1222:15CVE publishedNVD

Observed activity

isMalicious corpus · updated 2026-10-23 21:37 UTC
Indicators tagged with this CVE, per day0 indicators over 7 days
Block these indicators
  • Firewall list (EDL, text): https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-43860?format=txt
  • CSV export: https://api.ismalicious.com/edl/cve/CVE-2021-43860?format=csv
  • TAXII collection of exploited CVEs
  • The EDL and CSV take an API key on the Pro plan.

Versions per branch

NVD
Debian debian linux
BranchAffectedFixed in
9.0= 9.0no fix published
10.0= 10.0no fix published
11.0= 11.0no fix published
Flatpak
BranchAffectedFixed in
1.10< 1.10.61.10.6
1.x≥ 1.11.1, ≤ 1.12.3no fix published
Fedoraproject fedora
BranchAffectedFixed in
35.x= 35no fix published

1 more product in the sources.

as publishedRanges as NVD and OSV publish them; a distribution’s build can be fixed under an older number.

Distribution builds and vendor advisories

Packages from OSV.dev and products from the vendors' CSAF advisories.

version not verifiedVersions not verified: read as OSV.dev and the vendors publish them, not checked against each vendor's release list.

Packages

  • flatpakAlmaLinux:8all versions · fixed in 1.8.7-1.el8and 4 other packages

Full record on NVD

Fix

Advisories and patches

Detection

Nuclei template
none so far
ProjectDiscovery
Exploit-DB
no entry
Exploit-DB
Proof-of-concept repositories
none listed
PoC-in-GitHub

Sources

  • CNACVSS 3.18.2read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 3.18.6read 2026-10-23
  • NVDCVSS 2.06.8read 2026-10-23
  • CNAweakness (CWE)CWE-269read 2026-10-23
  • NVDweakness (CWE)CWE-276read 2026-10-23
  • FIRST EPSSEPSS score1.3 %2026-10-22
  • OSVaffected packages—

Technical details

CVSS v3 Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published
2022-01-12
Last Modified
2026-06-17
NVD status
Modified

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2021-43860?

Flatpak is a Linux application sandboxing and distribution framework. Prior to versions 1.12.3 and 1.10.6, Flatpak doesn't properly validate that the permissions displayed to the user for an app at install time match the actual permissions granted to the app at runtime, in the case that there's a null byte in the metadata file of an app. Therefore apps can grant themselves permissions without the consent of the user. Flatpak shows permissions to the user during install by reading them from the "xa.metadata" key in the commit metadata. This cannot contain a null terminator, because it is an untrusted GVariant. Flatpak compares these permissions to the *actual* metadata, from the "metadata" file to ensure it wasn't lied to. However, the actual metadata contents are loaded in several places where they are read as simple C-style strings. That means that, if the metadata file includes a null terminator, only the content of the file from *before* the terminator gets compared to xa.metadata. Thus, any permissions that appear in the metadata file after a null terminator are applied at runtime but not shown to the user. So maliciously crafted apps can give themselves hidden permissions. Users who have Flatpaks installed from untrusted sources are at risk in case the Flatpak has a maliciously crafted metadata file, either initially or in an update. This issue is patched in versions 1.12.3 and 1.10.6. As a workaround, users can manually check the permissions of installed apps by checking the metadata file or the xa.metadata key on the commit metadata.

Is CVE-2021-43860 actively exploited?

Active exploitation of CVE-2021-43860 has not been confirmed. Its EPSS score was 1.3% on 2026-10-22, the estimated probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.

What is the CVSS score for CVE-2021-43860?

CVE-2021-43860 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.6 (HIGH severity), with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H.

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