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Medium · 5.5 CVE-2026-118599 EUVD-2026-114699GHSA-h27g-h5mg-6hm2

epiphany: TAR-based .xpi with hard links can overwrite user files during WebExtension install

Published Oct 31, 2026 · Updated Nov 6, 2026 · Assigned by fedora

Description

A file overwrite vulnerability exists in Epiphany when installing WebExtension packages from .xpi files.

In src/webextension/ephy-web-extension-manager.c, decompress_xpi_thread() used libarchive with archive_read_support_format_all() (and filters), so the installer did not require a real ZIP. A TAR file named *.xpi was extracted. TAR supports hard-link entry types; with Epiphany's archive_write_disk options (including ARCHIVE_EXTRACT_PERM), a crafted hard-link target can cause an attacker-chosen existing user-writable file to be truncated and overwritten with attacker-controlled content and mode bits, without a dedicated warning dialog, when the user installs or opens the crafted .xpi.

This is related to but separate from the ZIP-slip path traversal fixed as CVE-2026-77679 (#2922 / MR !2143).

Requirements: the victim must install or open a malicious WebExtension (.xpi).

Affected: Epiphany >= 47.0 (WebExtension XPI install path).
Fixed: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/epiphany/-/merge_requests/2248 (commit 0cc9ab55 — only enable ZIP format support).
Upstream: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/epiphany/-/work_items/2988
Reporter acknowledgment: Fernando Munoz

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
GNOME Epiphany 47.0 —

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 epiphany-browser 51.2-1 —
Debian 13 epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Debian 12 epiphany-browser No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Show 2 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS epiphany-browser No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS epiphany-browser No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed epiphany 51.2-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:12379-1

Advisories 1

References