CVE-2026-46529 PUBLISHED

PDF /GoToR action argv injection enables single-click RCE via --gtk-module dlopen

Assigner: GitHub_M
Reserved: 14.05.2026 Published: 10.06.2026 Updated: 10.06.2026

Atril Document Viewer is the default document reader of the MATE desktop environment for Linux. A single-click remote code execution vulnerability in versions prior to 1.26.3 and 1.28.4 allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution as the user by tricking them into clicking a link inside a malicious PDF document. The PDF can be packaged as a polyglot file that is simultaneously a valid PDF and a valid ELF shared library, making the attack a single-file, single-click, configuration-independent RCE on stock atril installations. The root cause is shell/ev-application.c:ev_spawn, which builds a command line from attacker-controlled PDF link-destination fields without applying g_shell_quote. The cmdline is then handed to g_app_info_create_from_commandline, which shell-parses it back into argv — splitting any embedded --gtk-module=PATH into a separate argv element. GTK then dlopen()s the path during init, running any __attribute__((constructor)) it finds. Versions 1.26.3 and 1.28.4 contain a patch for the issue. This is the same defect class as CVE-2023-51698 (CBT --checkpoint-action injection in comics-document.c, fixed in 1.6.2) but in a different code path (shell/ev-application.c) that the original patch did not touch.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:A/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
CVSS Score: 8.4

Product Status

Vendor mate-desktop
Product atril
Versions
  • Version < 1.26.3 is affected
  • Version >= 1.27.0, < 1.28.4 is affected

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-77: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in a Command ('Command Injection') CWE
  • CWE-88: Improper Neutralization of Argument Delimiters in a Command ('Argument Injection') CWE
  • CWE-829: Inclusion of Functionality from Untrusted Control Sphere CWE