CVE-2020-17489

gnome-shell: Password from logged-out user may be shown on login screen

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Severity

Low

Red Hat Product Security

4.3

CVSS 3.1

Review impact separately from score.

Published · August 11, 2020

Updated · November 22, 2025

Description

An issue was discovered in certain configurations of GNOME gnome-shell through 3.36.4. When logging out of an account, the password box from the login dialog reappears with the password still visible. If the user had decided to have the password shown in cleartext at login time, it is then visible for a brief moment upon a logout. (If the password were never shown in cleartext, only the password length is revealed.)

Statement

This flaw does not affect gnome-shell as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 or 7. For 6, there is no option to view the password in the clear at login, and for 7, the login screen is killed upon login.

CVSS score applicability

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Mitigation

Do not use the "view password" context menu option when logging into gnome-shell.

CVSS / CWE

CVSS 3.1 · 4.3
CVSS:3.1/AV:P/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CWE-200 · Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor