Epiphany grants camera and microphone access after clipboard prompt
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Security bypass
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · None · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-863.
Summary
GNOME Epiphany 45.0 and later, including 51.x, has an incorrect authorization flaw (CWE-863) in its site permission handling. When a user clicks Allow on a clipboard or website data access prompt, the browser also grants that site camera and microphone access. A remote attacker who lures a victim to a malicious page can then use the camera and microphone without a further prompt.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-01
Description from the CNA
A logic error in Epiphany's site permission handling can cause camera and microphone access to be granted when the user only approves a different permission. In src/ephy-window.c, set_permission() stores the user's Allow/Deny choice after a WebKit permission dialog. Types CLIPBOARD and WEBSITE_DATA_ACCESS are not stored by ephy_permission_is_stored_by_permissions_manager(), so control fell into an else-if that was written as: } else if (EPHY_PERMISSION_TYPE_ACCESS_WEBCAM_AND_MICROPHONE) { Because that expression is a non-zero enum constant, the branch always ran for those types and wrote EPHY_PERMISSION_PERMIT for both ACCESS_WEBCAM and ACCESS_MICROPHONE for the site origin. The user only saw a Clipboard or Website Data Access dialog. A malicious site that obtains approval for clipboard or third-party storage access can afterwards use getUserMedia without a further camera/microphone prompt, exposing audiovisual confidentiality. Requirements: the victim must visit a malicious page and click Allow on a clipboard or website-data-access prompt. Affected: Epiphany >= 45.0 (bug present at least through 51.x). Fixed: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/epiphany/-/merge_requests/2249 (commit 480c3648). Upstream: https://gitlab.gnome.org/GNOME/epiphany/-/work_items/2976 Reporter acknowledgment: Fernando Munoz
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
The fix is merge request 2249 (commit 480c3648) in the upstream GNOME Epiphany repository. The sources list no fixed version for Epiphany.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-01
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-31 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-118598
- 2026-10-31 Alias added: GHSA-pv7g-824r-3xmg
- 2026-11-01 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-06 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
More GNOME vulnerabilities
- TI-2023-23091 Gnome-maps: gnome maps is vulnerable to a code injection attack (similar to xss) via its service.json CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2026-41775 Glib: off-by-one error in glib/gkeyfile.c via "g_key_file_get_locale_string_list" CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.6
- TI-2026-41772 Glib: out-of-bounds read in glib/gdatetime.c:g_date_time_get_ymd via invalid gdatetime CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2026-03716 Libsoup: libsoup: denial of service via use-after-free in http/2 server CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-28393 Integer overflow in GNOME G Structured File Library CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
- TI-2024-24253 Integer overflow in GNOME G Structured File Library CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.4
Sources
- CVE-2026-118598 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-118598 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-pv7g-824r-3xmg · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-118598 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences