High severity7.0NVD Advisory· Published Mar 5, 2020· Updated Jun 17, 2026
CVE-2020-10174
CVE-2020-10174
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.
AI Insight
LLM-synthesized narrative grounded in this CVE's description and references.
Affected products
3- TeeJee/Timeshiftdescription
- Range: <20.03
Patches
Vulnerability mechanics
References
8- github.com/teejee2008/timeshift/commit/335b3d5398079278b8f7094c77bfd148b315b462nvdPatchThird Party Advisory
- www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2020/03/06/3nvdMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- bugzilla.suse.com/show_bug.cginvdIssue TrackingThird Party Advisory
- github.com/teejee2008/timeshift/releases/tag/v20.03nvdRelease NotesThird Party Advisory
- usn.ubuntu.com/4312-1/nvdThird Party Advisory
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/AAOFXT64CEUMJE3723JDJWTEQWQUCYMD/nvd
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/SXDEPC52G46U6I7GLQNFLZXVSM7V2HYY/nvd
- lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/TXXYQFSZ5P6ZMNFIDBAQKBFZIR2T7ZLL/nvd
News mentions
0No linked articles in our index yet.