HOMEVULNERABILITIESCVE-2018-6791
MEDIUM

CVE-2018-6791

CWE-78Published: February 7, 2018· Updated: Jun 17, 2026

6.8
CVSS v3.1

Official Description

An issue was discovered in soliduiserver/deviceserviceaction.cpp in KDE Plasma Workspace before 5.12.0. When a vfat thumbdrive that contains `` or $() in its volume label is plugged in and mounted through the device notifier, it's interpreted as a shell command, leading to a possibility of arbitrary command execution. An example of an offending volume label is "$(touch b)" -- this will create a file called b in the home folder.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2018-6791 requires local access, meaning attackers must already have a foothold on the target system.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 6.8.

CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown

Exploitability
Attack VectorPhysical
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges Req.None
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
Impact
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.0/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected Vendors & Products

Debian1 product(s)
debian linux
kde1 product(s)
plasma-workspace
Source: NVD CPE · 2 total CPE entries

Exploit & PoC Resources

NO KNOWN EXPLOITNo public exploit confirmed at this time
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Official Patches & Advisories

All References (6)

Quick Facts

CVE IDCVE-2018-6791
CVSS Score6.8 / 10
SeverityMEDIUM
WeaknessCWE-78
CISA KEVNo
Affected2 vendor(s)
PublishedFeb 7, 2018

Related CVEs (CWE-78)

Recommended Actions

  • Apply vendor patches immediately
  • Monitor CVE-2018-6791 in threat intel feeds
  • Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts
Data sourced from NVD (NIST), CISA KEV, and EPSS (FIRST). Analysis generated by CTIWATCH.COM. CVE data is provided under the NVD usage policy.