Media File Attack Vector

[janglingquo_575]

Could media files downloaded via a browser or an encrypted messenger be used to compromise Dom0?

Dom0 handles media files because the GPU/iGPU drivers and X Window System code is inside dom0.

Does this mean Dom0 can be compromised by a malicious .mp4 .png .jpeg .txt .flac .gif type media file

format?

[fsflover]

@janglingquo_575

Could media files downloaded via a browser or an encrypted messenger be used to compromise Dom0?

No. You only open files in VMs, and they don’t have GPU acceleration:

What are usages of GPU in Qubes OS?

Qubes does allow for the use of accelerated graphics (e.g. OpenGL) in dom0’s Window Manager, so all the fancy desktop effects should still work. App qubes use a software-only (CPU-based) implementation of OpenGL, which may be good enough for basic games and applications. From Faq Won’t good GPU enhance performance of APP qubes based on “software-only (CPU-based)” in above sentence? Will it help if I play video in APP qube? I think Qubes OS can’t display without dedicated GPU if CPU doesn’t …

[Qball]

I did not experience such a mess. I did experienced it in Standalone and Temps (with corruption of a template). I don’t use Qubes file managers and I do use secure hardware modules for file transfers. If it happens often on your side that means you might have some software that facilitates it. You can use VLC to convert such files to other formats before you play them (I had to do it about 16 times in 10 years). If you are a specific target… things might be different at your end. Most torrents I download get erased.