This Week in TUXEDO OS #02-2025 - TUXEDO Computers

Hello TUXEDO Fans and Open-Source Enthusiasts!

Did you know that the KDE project is developing its own web browser? Falkon impresses with its focus on privacy, a lightweight Chromium engine without Google services, and useful features like a password manager. After the holidays, our developer penguins will return from the ice floes of their friends and family, reinvigorated by plenty of cookies, to work on new projects. Until then, why not give Falkon a try?

Enjoy reading,
The TUXEDO OS Team

Updates TUXEDO OS

• Firefox 134
• Thunderbird 128.6

KDE App of the Week: Surf the Web with the Falkon Browser

Did you know that the KDE project has its own default browser? Its name is Falkon, and it’s more powerful than you might think. In a world dominated by Google’s proprietary Chrome browser, while the open-source Firefox browser is steadily losing market share and faces an uncertain future, Falkon is becoming an increasingly significant alternative.

Originally developed under the name QupZilla, Falkon was adopted by KDE in 2017 and given its current name. The browser is based on the QtWebEngine, a variant of the Chromium engine—but without the privacy-invasive Google services. The latest version, Falkon 24.12, was released just before the end of the year.

Falkon offers almost all the features you would expect from a modern web browser. It includes an integrated password manager that works with both encrypted and unencrypted databases as well as Kwallet. There’s also a user script manager compatible with Greasemonkey. Additionally, Falkon excels with robust privacy features, a spell checker, a tab manager, support for all major search engines, and a range of developer tools.

When it comes to rendering, the QtWebEngine delivers excellent quality that leaves nothing to be desired. Falkon also lets you manage RSS feeds with a built-in RSS reader, block ads with an integrated AdBlock module, block Flash content using Click2Flash, and manage local CA certificate databases through SSL management.

However, there are two main drawbacks with Falkon at the moment. First, it lacks modern extension support. While the browser supports the older PPAPI plugin interface and its own extension system, it does not yet support the modern extension API used by Firefox, Chrome, and other browsers. Although AdBlock is already integrated, a few more extensions are accessible through its settings, and about twenty additional add-ons can be downloaded.

The second limitation is the absence of synchronization support. You won’t be able to sync bookmarks or open tabs across different devices. For now, Falkon is better suited as a secondary browser, unless you don’t rely on many extensions. Moving forward, the KDE project should consider how to better position Falkon for the future of open-source web browsing.

For more KDE applications updated last week, check out the column This Week in KDE Apps.

For GNOME Fans: TUXEDO FnLock Status

Under TUXEDO OS, the TUXEDO Control Center launches automatically and remains accessible via the system tray in the KDE Plasma desktop environment. GNOME, however, eliminated the classic tray bar with the introduction of the GNOME Shell, opting instead for its own interface for so-called Background Apps. This feature must be explicitly implemented by developers, which is currently the case for only a few GNOME applications.

Interestingly, GNOME developers have recently begun to reconsider this approach. For example, the Status Icons extension is now part of the official „Gnome Shell Extensions“ collection. However, the AppIndicator and KStatusNotifierItem Support extension, originally derived from Ubuntu’s Unity desktop, feels even better integrated. Using this extension, the TUXEDO Control Center can also be seamlessly incorporated into the GNOME desktop.

For those who want to further optimize their TUXEDO laptop under GNOME, there’s a useful new tool available: the TUXEDO FnLock status extension (source code on GitHub). This extension displays the status of the FnLock key—i.e., the switch between the function keys F1 to F12 and their alternative functions, such as volume control, screen brightness, or keyboard backlight.

Ubuntu Security Updates

The security updates listed here from Ubuntu are directly integrated into TUXEDO OS:

• USN-7198–1: rlottie vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in rlottie.
  Identifiers: CVE-2021–31315, CVE-2021–31317, CVE-2021–31320, and 4 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7197–1: Go Networking vulnerability: golang-golang-x-net could crash when processing specially crafted network traffic.
  Identifier: CVE-2024–45338
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.10, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM

• USN-7185–2: Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  Identifiers: CVE-2024–35886, CVE-2024–42153, CVE-2023–52594, and 35 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 18.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

• USN-7169–4: Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  Identifiers: CVE-2024–53057, CVE-2024–50264, CVE-2024–49967
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.10

• USN-7196–1: Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  Identifiers: CVE-2024–43827, CVE-2024–43830, CVE-2024–46715, and 400 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7195–1: Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  Identifiers: CVE-2024–46724, CVE-2022–38096, CVE-2024–36952, and 36 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7194–1: Linux kernel (Azure) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  Identifiers: CVE-2024–50006, CVE-2024–50040, CVE-2024–35967, and 404 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7186–2: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel.
  Identifiers: CVE-2024–50006, CVE-2024–50040, CVE-2024–50096, and 178 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7193–1: Thunderbird vulnerability: Thunderbird could be made to bypass security restrictions.
  Identifier: CVE-2024–11694
  Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7192–1: xfpt vulnerability: xfpt could crash or execute programs when opening specially crafted files.
  Identifier: CVE-2024–43700
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.10, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7191–1: Firefox vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in Firefox.
  Identifiers: CVE-2025–0240, CVE-2025–0237, CVE-2025–0239, and 5 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7190–1: Tinyproxy vulnerability: Tinyproxy could crash or execute programs when processing specially crafted input.
  Identifier: CVE-2023–49606
  Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

• USN-7189–1: HTMLDOC vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in HTMLDOC.
  Identifiers: CVE-2021–34121, CVE-2021–23206, CVE-2021–40985, and 8 others
  Affects: Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

• USN-7188–1: FFmpeg vulnerability: FFmpeg could crash when processing specially crafted input.
  Identifier: CVE-2024–36617
  Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS, Ubuntu 18.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM

• USN-7179–3: Linux kernel (GKE) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–43904, CVE-2024–40973, CVE-2020–12352, and 11 others Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7169–3: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–50264, CVE-2024–49967, CVE-2024–53057 Affects: Ubuntu 24.10

• USN-7167–2: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–53057, CVE-2024–50264, CVE-2024–49967 Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7187–1: Linux kernel (OEM) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–50011, CVE-2024–47715 Affects: Ubuntu 24.04 LTS

• USN-7186–1: Linux kernel (Intel IoTG) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–49927, CVE-2024–36893, CVE-2024–49856, and 178 others Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7179–2: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–43904, CVE-2024–40973, CVE-2020–12352, and 11 others Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7185–1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–35886, CVE-2024–42153, CVE-2023–52594, and 35 others Affects: Ubuntu 18.04 ESM, Ubuntu 16.04 ESM

• USN-7184–1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–35886, CVE-2024–42153, CVE-2023–52594, and 27 others Affects: Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

• USN-7183–1: Linux kernel vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–53057, CVE-2024–35886, CVE-2024–36270, and 30 others Affects: Ubuntu 16.04 ESM, Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

• USN-7159–5: Linux kernel (Raspberry Pi) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2023–52497, CVE-2024–36953, CVE-2023–52639, and 20 others Affects: Ubuntu 18.04 ESM

• USN-7154–2: Linux kernel (HWE) vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in the Linux kernel. Identifier: CVE-2024–46727, CVE-2024–47683, CVE-2024–43884, and 399 others Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7182–1: Ceph vulnerability: Ceph could allow unintended access to network services. Identifier: CVE-2024–48916 Affects: Ubuntu 24.10, Ubuntu 24.04 LTS, Ubuntu 22.04 LTS

• USN-7181–1: Salt vulnerability: Salt could be made to crash or execute programs when processing specially crafted network traffic. Identifier: CVE-2020–16846 Affects: Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

• USN-7180–1: Python vulnerabilities: Multiple security issues were fixed in Python 2.7. Identifier: CVE-2022–48560, CVE-2023–24329, CVE-2022–48566, and 2 others Affects: Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, Ubuntu 20.04 LTS

• USN-7140–2: Tinyproxy vulnerability: Tinyproxy could be made to expose sensitive information. Identifier: CVE-2022–40468 Affects: Ubuntu 14.04 ESM

Current BIOS/EC Versions

An EC/BIOS update affects key system components. Please ensure that you follow the instructions carefully and take your time. The process is usually completed quickly. If you have any doubts, our support team is happy to assist you. The following devices have BIOS/EC updates available: