Arbitrary File Write via Write-Time Symlink Following (TOCTOU) in Claude Code
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-103435 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | Anthropic |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-10-07 13:17:16 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-10-07 15:16:57 UTC |
| Description | Claude Code validated that a target file path resided within the project working directory at permission-check time, but re-resolved the path at write time without repeating that validation. This time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) gap allowed an attacker who could write to the workspace to atomically replace a project file with a symlink, causing Claude Code to follow the symlink and write its output to an arbitrary file outside the project sandbox. Exploitation required the ability to win a race condition against the write operation and write access to the shared workspace, enabling a lower-privileged attacker to redirect benign edits to sensitive files (e.g., shell configuration) in a higher-privileged session. Users on standard Claude Code auto-update have received this fix already. Users performing manual updates are advised to update to the latest version. Thank you to hackerone.com/c_h4ck_0 for reporting this issue. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v4.0 7.7 HIGH from 98a01053-8a31-4f6d-9aa9-252be161adc6
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Problem Types: CWE-22 | CWE-61 | CWE-367 | CWE-22 CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') | CWE-61 CWE-61 UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following | CWE-367 CWE-367 Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4.0 | 98a01053-8a31-4f6d-9aa9-252be161adc6 | Secondary | 7.7 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/C... |
| 4.0 | CNA | DECLARED | 7.7 | HIGH | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
CVSS v4.0 Breakdown
Attack Vector
NetworkAttack Complexity
LowAttack Requirements
PresentPrivileges Required
NoneUser Interaction
PassiveConfidentiality
HighIntegrity
HighAvailability
HighSub Conf.
NoneSub Integrity
NoneSub Availability
NoneCVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
Vendor Declared Affected Products
| Source | Vendor | Product | Version | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | Anthropic | @anthropic-ai/claude-code | affected 2.1.129 semver | Not specified |
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/anthropics/claude-code/security/advisories/GHSA-5j29-h97v-84ch | 98a01053-8a31-4f6d-9aa9-252be161adc6 | github.com | |
| CVE Program record | CVE.ORG | www.cve.org | canonical |
| NVD vulnerability detail | NVD | nvd.nist.gov | canonical, analysis |
No vendor comments have been submitted for this CVE.
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.