# CVE-2014-1420: Insecure temp file usage in Ubuntu UI toolkit

> An attacker can exploit insecure temporary file handling in the Ubuntu UI Toolkit to expose sensitive data or modify files via symlink attacks.

- **Severity:** Low 3.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Sep 2020
- **Updated:** 16 Sep 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6wx6-hrv9-h5wv

## What is CVE-2014-1420?

CVE-2014-1420 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in Canonical ubuntu-ui-toolkit, published on 10 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

On desktop, Ubuntu UI Toolkit's StateSaver would serialise data on tmp/ files which an attacker could use to expose potentially sensitive data. StateSaver would also open files without the O_EXCL flag. An attacker could exploit this to launch a symlink attack, though this is partially mitigated by symlink and hardlink restrictions in Ubuntu. Fixed in 1.1.1188+14.10.20140813.4-0ubuntu1.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data), CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2014-1420?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Canonical Ubuntu-Ui-Toolkit.

## How do I fix CVE-2014-1420?

No fix has been published for CVE-2014-1420 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2014-1420 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-1420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2014-1420 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2014-1420 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in Canonical ubuntu-ui-toolkit, published on 10 Sep 2020. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2014-1420 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Canonical ubuntu-ui-toolkit. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1420/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1420/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-1420
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-1420
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2014-1420

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2014-1420/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.