Description
Flatpak is a system for building, distributing, and running sandboxed desktop applications on Linux. A bug was discovered in the `flatpak-portal` service that can allow sandboxed applications to execute arbitrary code on the host system (a sandbox escape). This sandbox-escape bug is present in versions from 0.11.4 and before fixed versions 1.8.5 and 1.10.0. The Flatpak portal D-Bus service (`flatpak-portal`, also known by its D-Bus service name `org.freedesktop.portal.Flatpak`) allows apps in a Flatpak sandbox to launch their own subprocesses in a new sandbox instance, either with the same security settings as the caller or with more restrictive security settings. For example, this is used in Flatpak-packaged web browsers such as Chromium to launch subprocesses that will process untrusted web content, and give those subprocesses a more restrictive sandbox than the browser itself. In vulnerable versions, the Flatpak portal service passes caller-specified environment variables to non-sandboxed processes on the host system, and in particular to the `flatpak run` command that is used to launch the new sandbox instance. A malicious or compromised Flatpak app could set environment variables that are trusted by the `flatpak run` command, and use them to execute arbitrary code that is not in a sandbox. As a workaround, this vulnerability can be mitigated by preventing the `flatpak-portal` service from starting, but that mitigation will prevent many Flatpak apps from working correctly. This is fixed in versions 1.8.5 and 1.10.0.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| flatpak | flatpak | >= 0.11.4, < 1.8.5, >= 1.9.0, < 1.10.0 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | flatpak | 1.8.5-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | flatpak | 1.8.5-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | flatpak | 1.8.5-1 | — |
| Debian 10 | flatpak | 1.2.5-0+deb10u2 | DSA-4830-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | flatpak | 1.6.5-0ubuntu0.2 | USN-4721-1 |
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | flatpak | 1.0.9-0ubuntu0.2 | USN-4721-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 8 | flatpak +3 | 1.6.2-5.el8_3 | RHSA-2021:0304 |
| RHEL 7 | flatpak +2 | 1.0.9-10.el7_9 | RHSA-2021:0411 |
| RHEL 7 | flatpak-builder | 1.0.0-10.el7_9 | RHSA-2021:0411 |
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| RHEL 8.2 EUS | flatpak +3 | 1.6.2-4.el8_2 | RHSA-2021:0307 |
| RHEL 8.1 EUS | flatpak +1 | 1.0.9-3.el8_1 | RHSA-2021:0306 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP2 | flatpak | 1.10.2-4.6.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:1094-1 |
| SLES 15 SP2 | libostree | 2020.8-3.3.2 | SUSE-SU-2021:1094-1 |
| SLES 15 SP2 | xdg-desktop-portal | 1.8.0-5.3.2 | SUSE-SU-2021:1094-1 |
| SLES 15 SP2 | xdg-desktop-portal-gtk | 1.8.0-3.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2021:1094-1 |
| SLES 15 SP1 | flatpak | 1.2.3-150100.4.5.2 | SUSE-SU-2022:3284-1, SUSE-SU-2022:2990-1 |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 15 SP1 | flatpak | 1.2.3-150100.4.5.2 | SUSE-SU-2022:3284-1, SUSE-SU-2022:2990-1 |
| SLE HPC 15 SP1 | flatpak | 1.2.3-150100.4.5.2 | SUSE-SU-2022:3284-1, SUSE-SU-2022:2990-1 |
| SUSE Enterprise Storage 6 | flatpak | 1.2.3-150100.4.5.2 | SUSE-SU-2022:3284-1, SUSE-SU-2022:2990-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | flatpak | 1.11.3-1.2 | openSUSE-SU-2024:10762-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.2 | flatpak | 1.10.2-lp152.3.6.1 | openSUSE-SU-2021:0520-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.2 | libostree | 2020.8-lp152.2.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2021:0520-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.2 | xdg-desktop-portal | 1.8.0-lp152.4.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2021:0520-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 15.2 | xdg-desktop-portal-gtk | 1.8.0-lp152.2.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2021:0520-1 |
Alpine
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.24 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.23 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.22 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.21 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.20 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
Show 7 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Alpine v3.19 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.18 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.17 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.16 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.15 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.14 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
| Alpine v3.13 | flatpak | 1.10.1-r0 | — |
Amazon Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Amazon Linux 2 | flatpak +2 | 1.0.9-10.amzn2 | ALAS2-2021-1597 |
| Amazon Linux 2 | flatpak-builder | 1.0.0-10.amzn2 | ALAS2-2021-1597 |
Oracle Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oracle Linux 8 | flatpak +3 | 1.6.2-5.el8_3 | ELSA-2021-0304 |
| Oracle Linux 7 | flatpak +2 | 1.0.9-10.el7_9 | ELSA-2021-0411 |
| Oracle Linux 7 | flatpak-builder | 1.0.0-10.el7_9 | ELSA-2021-0411 |
Advisories 14
- RHSA-2021:0411 Red Hat Security Advisory: flatpak security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Jun 26, 2026
- USN-4721-1 flatpak vulnerability Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Apr 22, 2026
- DSA-4830-1 flatpak - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2021:1094-1 Security update for flatpak, libostree, xdg-desktop-portal, xdg-desktop-portal-gtk SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2021:0520-1 Security update for flatpak, libostree, xdg-desktop-portal, xdg-desktop-portal-gtk SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2024:10762-1 flatpak-1.11.3-1.2 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2022:3284-1 Security update for flatpak SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2022:2990-1 Security update for flatpak SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Feb 4, 2026
- RHSA-2021:0307 Red Hat Security Advisory: flatpak security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 22, 2025
- RHSA-2021:0306 Red Hat Security Advisory: flatpak security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 22, 2025
- RHSA-2021:0304 Red Hat Security Advisory: flatpak security update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 22, 2025
- ALAS2-2021-1597 Important: flatpak security update (Amazon Linux 2) Amazon Linux Security Center (ALAS) · Feb 19, 2021
- ELSA-2021-0411 Important: flatpak security update (Oracle Linux 7) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Feb 8, 2021
- ELSA-2021-0304 Important: flatpak security update (Oracle Linux 8) Oracle Linux Security Advisories (ELSA) · Feb 1, 2021
References
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/security/advisories/GHSA-4ppf-fxf6-vxg2
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/releases/tag/1.8.5
- DSA-4830 vendor-advisory
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/6d1773d2a54dde9b099043f07a2094a4f1c2f486
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/6e5ae7a109cdfa9735ea7ccbd8cb79f9e8d3ae8b
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/aeb6a7ab0abaac4a8f4ad98b3df476d9de6b8bd4
- https://github.com/flatpak/flatpak/commit/cc1401043c075268ecc652eac557ef8076b5eaba
- GLSA-202101-21 vendor-advisory