CVE-2026-46529

Publication date 20 May 2026

Last updated 28 September 2026

Ubuntu priority

Medium

Why this priority?

Cvss 3 Severity Score

7.8 · High

Score breakdown

Description

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.

Status

Package Ubuntu Release Status
atril 26.10 stonking
Not affected
26.04 LTS resolute
Fixed in 1.28.2-1ubuntu0.1~esm1
25.10 questing Ignored end of life, was needs-triage
24.04 LTS noble
Fixed in 1.26.2-3ubuntu0.1~esm1
22.04 LTS jammy
Fixed in 1.26.0-1ubuntu1.2+esm1
20.04 LTS focal
Fixed in 1.24.0-1ubuntu0.2+esm1
18.04 LTS bionic
Fixed in 1.20.1-2ubuntu2+esm3
16.04 LTS xenial
Fixed in 1.12.2-1ubuntu0.3+esm1
evince 26.10 stonking
Not affected
26.04 LTS resolute
Fixed in 49~alpha-2ubuntu2.1
25.10 questing
Fixed in 48.1-3ubuntu2.1
24.04 LTS noble
Fixed in 46.3.1-0ubuntu1.1
22.04 LTS jammy
Fixed in 42.3-0ubuntu3.2
20.04 LTS focal
Needs evaluation
18.04 LTS bionic
Needs evaluation
16.04 LTS xenial
Needs evaluation
evince-gtk3 26.10 stonking
Needs evaluation
26.04 LTS resolute
Needs evaluation
25.10 questing Not in release
24.04 LTS noble Not in release
22.04 LTS jammy Not in release
papers 26.10 stonking
Not affected
26.04 LTS resolute
Fixed in 50.1-0ubuntu1.1
25.10 questing
Fixed in 48.0-1ubuntu1.25.10.4
24.04 LTS noble Not in release
22.04 LTS jammy Not in release

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Patch details

For informational purposes only. We recommend not to cherry-pick updates. How can I get the fixes?

Package Patch details
evince
papers

Severity score breakdown

CVSS version:

Base score 8.4 · High

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

Base score 7.8 · High

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

References

Related Ubuntu Security Notices (USN)

Other references

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