What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2020-16122: Packagekit's apt backend lets user install untrusted local packages

• Severity: high (CVSS 7.8 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.3% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2020-11-07 · updated 2026-06-17
• Weakness: CWE-269

Description

PackageKit's apt backend mistakenly treated all local debs as trusted. The apt security model is based on repository trust and not on the contents of individual files. On sites with configured PolicyKit rules this may allow users to install malicious packages.

Affected products

• Canonical Ubuntu Linux: 16.04, 18.04, 20.04
• PackageKit: all versions

References

• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/packagekit/+bug/1882098
• https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/packagekit/+bug/1882098

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