Scenario: I have a desktop Ubuntu 21.04 system with Wine and Mono installed. The only program I run on Wine is VisiPics, a Windows photo comparison tool. VisiPics needs read-write access to the external drive on which those photo files are stored, so as to delete unwanted duplicates.
My question is, to what extent do Wine and/or Mono pose security risks in that scenario?
Certain comments contribute to my confusion:
- Is it only a question of what software I deliberately use? Some consider Wine and Mono intrinsically risky, regardless of what software I run. It is reported that "malware can be delivered in many ways" and that WannaCry (for example) has a "worm aspect." So could malware find its own way to my Linux system from an infected file on the external drive, as soon as I make that drive available to the system?
- How great is the threat level, in practical terms? Some say that "your Linux computer is completely safe with WINE" unless you use it to run infected software. Others claim that malware will face so many complexities, in Wine, that it is unlikely to get far. Yet researchers warn that "Wine can pose serious security implications when used to run Windows software in a Linux environment."
- Is it likely that, if the user can access the external data drive with VisiPics, Windows malware running on Wine can too?
- Regardless of whether a generic Linux installation needs antivirus software, shouldn't Wine users install antivirus software? If so, would that be Linux antivirus software that can detect Windows malware, or Windows antivirus software running on Wine?
To repeat, my question is, to what extent do Wine and/or Mono pose security risks in the stated scenario?