CVE-2021-23556: Guake Command Injection Vulnerability

MODERATE
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-7x48-7466-3g33
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CVSS 6.4
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2021-23556 is a MODERATE (CVSS 6.4) command injection vulnerability (General Security Weakness) affecting Guake libraries in the PyPI ecosystem. The issue involves command injection in guake. Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.8.5.

CVE-2021-23556 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2021-23556
GHSA Identifier GHSA-7x48-7466-3g33
Severity MODERATE
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 6.4
CWE Classification General Security Weakness
Affected Product Guake
Package Ecosystem PyPI
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 6.4

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity High (AC:H)
Privileges Required Low (PR:L)
User Interaction None (UI:N)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity Low (I:L)
Availability Low (A:L)

How to Fix CVE-2021-23556

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Guake dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

guake fixed: 3.8.5 
pip install guake>=3.8.5
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release: 

pip show guake

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your Python environment is affected by CVE-2021-23556, inspect your installed packages using pip:

pip show guake

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Guake in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.8.5), your application is affected.

Note: The pip show guake command checks currently installed packages in your active Python environment.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under General Security Weakness. In Guake, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

Guake is a drop-down terminal for GNOME. The package guake before 3.8.5 is vulnerable to Exposed Dangerous Method or Function due to the exposure of execute_command and execute_command_by_uuid methods via the d-bus interface, which makes it possible for a malicious user to run an arbitrary command via the d-bus method. **Note:** Exploitation requires the user to have installed another malicious program that will be able to send dbus signals or run terminal commands.

CVE-2021-23556 Affected Guake Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.8.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
guake
pypi/guake
PyPI
< 3.8.5
3.8.5

References

NVD — CVE-2021-23556 NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23556
Guake Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Guake/guake/issues/1796
Guake Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Guake/guake/pull/2017
Security Fix Commit FIX COMMIT
https://github.com/Guake/guake/commit/b769b3a5fd71a107c58679d217cccc971b4196b4
Guake Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Guake/guake
Guake Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/Guake/guake/releases
GitHub Advisory / Wiki ADVISORY
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7x48-7466-3g33
Guake Source Repository REPOSITORY
https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/guake/PYSEC-2022-165.yaml
snyk.io/vuln/snyk-python-gu... WEB
https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-PYTHON-GUAKE-2386334

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2021-23556?
CVE-2021-23556 is a security vulnerability in Guake involving Command injection in guake under General Security Weakness.
Which Guake versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.8.5 across affected packages: guake.
What version fixes CVE-2021-23556?
Upgrading to 3.8.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is guake affected?
Yes, guake is affected in releases prior to 3.8.5. Upgrade your dependency to 3.8.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2021-23556?
CVE-2021-23556 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 6.4 (MODERATE) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2021-23556?
CVE-2021-23556 is classified under General Security Weakness.
How can I check PyPI dependencies for CVE-2021-23556?
Run the dependency tree command: 'pip show guake'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
View Raw JSON 
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-7x48-7466-3g33",
  "modified" : "2024-09-20T21:32:41Z",
  "published" : "2022-03-18T00:01:11Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2021-23556" ],
  "summary" : "Command injection in guake",
  "details" : "Guake is a drop-down terminal for GNOME. The package guake before 3.8.5 is vulnerable to Exposed Dangerous Method or Function due to the exposure of execute_command and execute_command_by_uuid methods via the d-bus interface, which makes it possible for a malicious user to run an arbitrary command via the d-bus method. **Note:** Exploitation requires the user to have installed another malicious program that will be able to send dbus signals or run terminal commands.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:L"
  }, {
    "type" : "CVSS_V4",
    "score" : "CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:L/VA:L/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "PyPI",
      "name" : "guake"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.8.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-23556"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Guake/guake/issues/1796"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Guake/guake/pull/2017"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Guake/guake/commit/b769b3a5fd71a107c58679d217cccc971b4196b4"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Guake/guake"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/Guake/guake/releases"
  }, {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-7x48-7466-3g33"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/guake/PYSEC-2022-165.yaml"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://snyk.io/vuln/SNYK-PYTHON-GUAKE-2386334"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ ],
    "severity" : "MODERATE",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2022-03-18T22:40:30Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : null
  }
}