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NVD / CVE Program· CNA fedora

CVE-2023-43090: Gnome-shell: screenshot tool allows viewing open windows when session is locked

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 22/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.30% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: gnome-shell (Debian:12) 43.6-1~deb12u2; gnome-shell (Debian:13) 44.5-1; gnome-shell (openSUSE:Leap 15.6) 45.3-150600.5.6.1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to gnome-shell (Debian:12) 43.6-1~deb12u2; gnome-shell (Debian:13) 44.5-1; gnome-shell (openSUSE:Leap 15.6) 45.3-150600.5.6.1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

A vulnerability was found in GNOME Shell. GNOME Shell's lock screen allows an unauthenticated local user to view windows of the locked desktop session by using keyboard shortcuts to unlock the restricted functionality of the screenshot tool.

MediumCVSS 5.5 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available
Published
Sep 22, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.3% · 23th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

22

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
22 / 40 · 5.5 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.3%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.5
CNA · fedora
5.5
agree

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

Follow CVE-2023-43090

When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
gnomegnome-shell
fedoraprojectfedora

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • fedoraproject fedora37
  • fedoraproject fedora38
  • gnome gnome-shell43 and later · before 43.9
  • gnome gnome-shell44 and later · before 44.5
  • gnome gnome-shell42

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (fedora). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/gnome-shell gnome-shell

    • before 42.*affected
    • 43.0 and later · before 43.9affected
    • 44.0 and later · before 44.5affected

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12gnome-shellbefore 43.6-1~deb12u243.6-1~deb12u2
Debian:13gnome-shellbefore 44.5-144.5-1
openSUSE:Leap 15.6gnome-shellbefore 45.3-150600.5.6.145.3-150600.5.6.1
openSUSE:Tumbleweedgnome-shellbefore 45.0-2.145.0-2.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP6gnome-shellbefore 45.3-150600.5.6.145.3-150600.5.6.1

Same product

gnome: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2017-8288gnome-shell 3.22 through 3.24.1 mishandles extensions that fail to reload, which can lead to leaving extensions enabled in the lock screen.
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2014-7300GNOME Shell 3.14.x before 3.14.1, when the Screen Lock feature is used, does not limit the aggregate memory consumption of all active PrtSc
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2012-4427The gnome-shell plugin 3.4.1 in GNOME allows remote attackers to force the download and installation of arbitrary extensions from extensions
    27Monitor

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2020-17489Aug 11, 2020 · An issue was discovered in certain configurations of GNOME gnome-shell through 3.36.4.
    17Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-20315Feb 18, 2022 · A locking protection bypass flaw was found in some versions of gnome-shell as shipped within CentOS Stream 8, when the "Application menu" or
    24Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2021-3982Apr 29, 2022 · Linux distributions using CAP_SYS_NICE for gnome-shell may be exposed to a privilege escalation issue.
    22Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
debian:gnome-shell43.6-1~deb12u2 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)
opensuse:gnome-shell45.3-150600.5.6.1 · openSUSE:Leap 15.6Package registry (OSV)
suse:gnome-shell45.3-150600.5.6.1 · SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP6Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Someone with local access to the system can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • No user action is required.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
high · data can be read
Integrity
none
Availability
none
Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality impact
High
Integrity impact
None
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-862 · Missing Authorization

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records