# CVE-2020-15258: Insecure use of shell.openExternal in Wire

> An attacker can execute arbitrary code on a victim's machine by sending messages with malicious links using non-standard protocols, requiring user interaction.

- **Severity:** High 8.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 16 Oct 2020
- **Updated:** 4 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-5gpx-9976-ggpm

## What is CVE-2020-15258?

CVE-2020-15258 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in wireapp wire-desktop, published on 16 Oct 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

In Wire before 3.20.x, `shell.openExternal` was used without checking the URL. This vulnerability allows an attacker to execute code on the victims machine by sending messages containing links with arbitrary protocols. The victim has to interact with the link and sees the URL that is opened. The issue was patched by implementing a helper function which checks if the URL's protocol is common. If it is common, the URL will be opened externally. If not, the URL will not be opened and a warning appears for the user informing them that a probably insecure URL was blocked from being executed. The issue is patched in Wire 3.20.x. More technical details about exploitation are available in the linked advisory.

Weakness: CWE-20 (Improper Input Validation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2020-15258?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wire Wire.

## How do I fix CVE-2020-15258?

No fix has been published for CVE-2020-15258 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2020-15258 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15258 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in wireapp wire-desktop

- [CVE-2020-27853](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-27853/): Other in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2021-32665](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-32665/): Verified groups not reliable (high 8.8)
- [CVE-2018-8909](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2018-8909/): Path traversal in n/a (high 7.5)
- [CVE-2021-41093](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-41093/): Account takeover when having only access to a user's short lived token (high 7.4)
- [CVE-2023-22737](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-22737/): wire-server vulnerable to unauthorized removal of Bots from Conversations (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2020-15258 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2020-15258 is a high-severity code injection vulnerability in wireapp wire-desktop, published on 16 Oct 2020. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2020-15258 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: wireapp wire-desktop. 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-2020-15258/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15258/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-15258
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-15258
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2020-15258

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2020-15258/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.