# CVE-2018-20167: Command injection in n/a

> An attacker can achieve remote code execution by tricking a user into viewing a file containing a malicious popmedia control sequence in Terminology.

- **Severity:** High 7.8 (`CVSS:3.0/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Local or same network only
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 17 Dec 2018
- **Updated:** 5 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2018-20167, GHSA-mcg2-gcq9-c6xf, MGASA-2019-0031, UBUNTU-CVE-2018-20167

## What is CVE-2018-20167?

CVE-2018-20167 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in n/a, published on 17 Dec 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Terminology before 1.3.1 allows Remote Code Execution because popmedia is mishandled, as demonstrated by an unsafe "cat README.md" command when \e}pn is used. A popmedia control sequence can allow the malicious execution of executable file formats registered in the X desktop share MIME types (/usr/share/applications). The control sequence defers unknown file types to the handle_unknown_media() function, which executes xdg-open against the filename specified in the sequence. The use of xdg-open for all unknown file types allows executable file formats with a registered shared MIME type to be executed. An attacker can achieve remote code execution by introducing an executable file and a plain text file containing the control sequence through a fake software project (e.g., in Git or a tarball). When the control sequence is rendered (such as with cat), the executable file will be run.

Weakness: CWE-74 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements in Output Used by a Downstream Component)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2018-20167?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Enlightenment Terminology.

## How do I fix CVE-2018-20167?

Upgrade to a fixed version.

## Is CVE-2018-20167 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20167 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2018-20167 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2018-20167 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in n/a, published on 17 Dec 2018. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2018-20167 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: n/a. 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-2018-20167/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20167/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2018-20167
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2018-20167
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2018-20167

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-20167/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.