[SOLVED] Uncommanded KDE Popup

[JoHubb]

If I leave my PC running in desktop, quite often when I come back to it, I find that a page has opened spontaneously.

It is not always the same link or page. This morning it was a link to K3B - a KDE CD burning program.

Should I be worried that a bot has infected my PC? Otherwise, I wonder why these programs, K3B is just today's, pop up!

Thanks for an explanation/advice.

John

[TWPonKubuntu]

I also saw anomalous behavior yesterday, not exactly the same as yours. Ktorrent was running upon bootup, nothing was being sent/received, but the main screen was open. I found that it has been installed in the "status and notifications" list (not by my choice). I selected "quit" and it was gone again. Could have been a case of fumble fingers, but I don't know of a keyboard command which would do this.
I'm running a newish kernel and up-to-date Kunbuntu 20.04.

Sorry, I don't know of a "fix" for this, just reporting similar behavior to that of @JoHubb

[claydoh]

If I leave my PC running in desktop, quite often when I come back to it, I find that a page has opened spontaneously.

It is not always the same link or page. This morning it was a link to K3B - a KDE CD burning program.

Should I be worried that a bot has infected my PC? Otherwise, I wonder why these programs, K3B is just today's, pop up!

Thanks for an explanation/advice.

John

A page in a web browser, a listing in Plasma Discover, or something else?
If you can take a screenshot next time you see this.
I doubt you have an 'infection', particularly as you are seeing KDE stuff, at least for one instance.
Doesn't seem like something from KDE, though.

[JoHubb]

Interesting to hear another user has experienced something similar.

Just now, it happened again.

This time the OS had been open on a webpage to do with aviation. The screensaver had kicked in and when I activated the PC again, there was a full screen photo seemingly plucked at random from my Pictures folder. Fortunately, it was a photo of a lady pilot and not a naughty lady...

I don't think it could have been fumbly fingers but I know what TWPonKubuntu means - it almost feels as if it could be.

[claydoh]

screenshot??

Screensaver?? Which screensaver package, and which specific screensaver are you using.?

Is this just an image (no borders or window buttons)?
A browser window?
An application window?

A screenshot may be very useful , perhaps using ksysguard an looking for an application running that could be displaying images, etc.

[JoHubb]

I misled you on the screensaver. I do not use one. The screen goes off on my power saving setting.

It has happened again - a different photograph in Gwenview. Whatever is causing this is working its way through my 'images' (baloosearch-/ -- Dolphin <2>) folder. There are over 3000 files in this folder. It seems to me to serve no useful purpose as I save my pictures in /Pictures or some other directory.

The picture files appear on my screen in date order but not one after the other - in other words there could be some sort of timing going on, so that unless the screen is activated at a particular time, that image is passed by, and the next one, and so on, until, the screen is activated and the next scheduled photo appears.

I have seen both .jpg and png files so far, but sometimes, as I said in the OP, there is a webpage. Perhaps it is an .html file which I have mistaken for a webpage. I will look out for this.

I am not familiar with 'ksysguard' - could I have a quick tutorial or a link, please?

John

[Don B. Cilly]

I am not familiar with 'ksysguard' - could I have a quick tutorial or a link, please?

Alt-F2, type "ksy", click on it. It' pretty much self-explanatory.

[JoHubb]

soffice.bin - splash screen seems to be implicated. The same thing happened this morning - a new file from further down the list in /images.

Could this have anything to do with LibreOffice? I have 6.0.7 but there is no option to update under Tools or anywhere. I think this version came with the Kubuntu 'live' install. Anyway, it is out of date.

My Kubuntu is 18.04.4 LTS.

Thanks for any advice.

[JoHubb]

Big apt update yesterday which included LibreOffice 6.4. It will be interesting to see if this makes a difference.

[JoHubb]

Another different picture file on waking from 'Suspend' this morning.

Seems I am talking to myself here!

[claydoh]

Some things are not clear still:
What program is the image opening with? Can we assume that you can close the program window showing the image?
Are these are your own images, from a specific location on your computer that you have put there yourself? ie not something like things from a browser cache

A good full-screen screenshot would be helpful. As would one of Ksysguard with the image still open, and other programs closed.
While it might be handy to take a screenshot that includes everything all at once, I think that it would be hard to read the info from Ksysguard


We really don't know what is goin on, this is something I know I have never heard of or seen, so we don't know where to start looking.

[jlittle]

Seems I am talking to myself here!

The desktop wallpaper I use, right-click desktop, configure desktop, wallpaper, wallpaper type Vallpaper 2.0.2, can be configured to load a random "different picture file" at intervals. There's 20 or so wallpaper plug-ins that can do this sort of thing. I haven't mentioned this before because you mentioned gwenview.

Do you have sessions enabled? System settings, start-up and shutdown, desktop session, restore previous session. I always change this to "start with an empty session", because long ago it was flaky. Maybe some session code is restarting something sporadically.

[JoHubb]

Thanks, claydoh. Gwenview. All are .png or .jpg files in the /Images folder (see#6). A screenshot will just show a .jpg opened in Gwenview, there is no other information.
No problem closing Gwenview.
Ksysguard showed something about soffice when I resumed one morning. The display kept changing and I could not find a log file. A screenshot wouldn't mean a thing. Unless I am not using the program correctly.

jlittle, 'restore previous session' was enabled. I changed it as advised. Thanks! Maybe that is the answer. I'll post again with update.

[claydoh]

'soffice' is Libreoffice.
Not sure this would cause Gwenview to open random images after resume, if the office suite were open at the time the system went to suspend mode. I imagine it would open them in its own image editor. And of course the randomness is bizarre

I cannot for the life f me find out how to log, or view logs of, what might go on when resuming.

[JoHubb]

Do you have sessions enabled? System settings, start-up and shutdown, desktop session, restore previous session. I always change this to "start with an empty session", because long ago it was flaky. Maybe some session code is restarting something sporadically.

I think this was the problem. Since starting with an empty session the problem has not recurred.

Thanks to all!