Medium [CVE-2026-74859] Gnome-tweaks: path traversal in theme installer
This medium-severity Red Hat Linux advisory covers CVE-2026-74859 affecting Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8, Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9, Red Hat package: gnome-tweaks.src.
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Summary
The shell theme installer in gnome-tweaks extracts user-supplied ZIP archives without validating archive member paths. As a result, a crafted theme archive can write files outside ~/.themes by using../ path traversal, absolute paths, or symlink entries.
This vulnerability is rated Moderate because it requires a user to actively install a specially crafted GNOME Shell theme via the `gnome-tweaks` utility. Exploitation is not possible without user interaction and the deliberate installation of a malicious theme, limiting the attack surface in typical Red Hat desktop environments.
Red Hat severity: Moderate — CVSS 6.8 (CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:H). Weakness: CWE-22.
Affected Red Hat products: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8; Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9. Red Hat does not currently list a fixing RHSA for this CVE.
Affected products named by the advisory: Red Hat package: gnome-tweaks.src.
Affected versions
No affected-version range was extracted from the source record. The vendor advisory is authoritative — check it before change work.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Fixed versions
No fixed release is recorded yet. That does not prove no patch exists — confirm against the vendor advisory.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
Mitigation
The source record does not include mitigation steps. That is not a statement that no fix exists — read the vendor advisory below for the authoritative guidance.
Official advisory · medium-confidence parse· fetched 2 hours ago·verify at source
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