CVE-2026-53799

rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition via ACL/xattr Application

State
Published
Severity
7.2 High
Published
Aug 13, 2026
Updated
Aug 14, 2026
Reserved
Jun 10, 2026

Read the record on cve.org

Description

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability that allows local attackers to cause rsync to apply arbitrary ACLs or extended attributes to unintended files by substituting a symlink at a predictable destination path between the file write and the subsequent acl_set_file() or lsetxattr() call. Attackers can exploit this timing window to redirect ACL and xattr application through a crafted symlink to files outside the intended destination tree, potentially granting elevated permissions and enabling local privilege escalation.

Scores

CVSSScoreVectorSource
4.07.2 HighCVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:NVulnCheck
3.16.3 MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NVulnCheck

Weaknesses

  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
  • CWE-367 Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

Affected Products

ProductVersions
rsyncRsyncProject
  • 3.4.4 and earlierAffected
  • 3.5.0Not affected

References

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