High severity · published Jun 10, 2026
CVE-2026-46529
PDF /GoToR action argv injection enables single-click RCE via --gtk-module dlopen
7.8
CVSS
0.5%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Atril Document Viewer is the default document reader of the MATE desktop environment for Linux. A single-click remote code execution vulnerability in versions prior to 1.26.3 and 1.28.4 allows an attacker to achieve arbitrary code execution as the user by tricking them into clicking a link inside a malicious PDF document. The PDF can be packaged as a polyglot file that is simultaneously a valid PDF and a valid ELF shared library, making the attack a single-file, single-click, configuration-independent RCE on stock atril installations. The root cause is `shell/ev-application.c:ev_spawn`, which builds a command line from attacker-controlled PDF link-destination fields without applying `g_shell_quote`. The cmdline is then handed to `g_app_info_create_from_commandline`, which shell-parses it back into argv — splitting any embedded `--gtk-module=PATH` into a separate argv element. GTK then `dlopen()`s the path during init, running any `__attribute__((constructor))` it finds. Versions 1.26.3 and 1.28.4 contain a patch for the issue. This is the same defect class as CVE-2023-51698 (CBT `--checkpoint-action` injection in `comics-document.c`, fixed in 1.6.2) but in a different code path (`shell/ev-application.c`) that the original patch did not touch.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.5% · higher than 45% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
AT
atril · mate-desktop
< 1.26.3; >= 1.27.0, < 1.28.4 · source: vendor
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 Extended Lifecycle Support · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA
RH
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 · Red Hat
All versions, or not specified · source: CISA