*** This bug is a security vulnerability ***

You have been subscribed to a public security bug by Jamie Strandboge 
(jdstrand):

Binary package hint: kdebase

KDE uses several directories outside $HOME to store "temporary" files.
This may unpleasantly surprise users who choose to encrypt their home
directory (using ecryptfs) and expect their data to be protected.

According to 
http://techbase.kde.org/KDE_System_Administration/KDE_Filesystem_Hierarchy 
there are at least three user-specific directories placed by default outside 
$HOME (see the doc for KDE's motivation):
1. /var/tmp/kdecache-$USER/
2. /tmp/kde-$USER/
3. /tmp/ksocket-$USER/

#1 is particularly problematic since /var/tmp is not cleaned upon reboot
and stores HTTP cache, thumbnails of viewed images, etc. However, fixing
it is quite easy: just set KDEVARTMP to $XDG_CACHE_HOME (or
$HOME/.cache/ if $XDG_CACHE_HOME is unset). This probably is only needed
for users who encrypt their home directories.

I don't know how #2 is used. It's empty on my system. Probably, leaving
it as is is OK because it provides the same guaranties to user as a
standard /tmp (e.g. cleanup upon normal boot, but allowing external
examination, e.g. from live cd). At least if some decision is made
regarding #2 it should expand to whole /tmp, not just KDE's files.

#3 is probably safe since it should only contain named sockets.

** Affects: kdebase (Ubuntu)
     Importance: Undecided
         Status: New

-- 
information leakage by kdecache when using encrypted home
https://bugs.launchpad.net/bugs/786150
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