uutils coreutils ln Security Bypass via Improper Handling of the --no-dereference Flag

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Summary

CVECVE-2026-35372
StatePUBLISHED
Assignercanonical
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2026-04-22 17:16:41 UTC
Updated2026-04-22 21:23:52 UTC
DescriptionA logic error in the ln utility of uutils coreutils allows the utility to dereference a symbolic link target even when the --no-dereference (or -n) flag is explicitly provided. The implementation previously only honored the "no-dereference" intent if the --force (overwrite) mode was also enabled. This flaw causes ln to follow a symbolic link that points to a directory and create new links inside that target directory instead of treating the symbolic link itself as the destination. In environments where a privileged user or system script uses ln -n to update a symlink, a local attacker could manipulate existing symbolic links to redirect file creation into sensitive directories, potentially leading to unauthorized file creation or system misconfiguration.

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 5 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Problem Types: CWE-61 | CWE-61 CWE-61: UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Secondary5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
3.1CNACVSS5MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Uutils Coreutils affected 0.8.0 semver Linux, Unix, macOS

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/11253 [email protected] github.com
github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.8.0 [email protected] github.com
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Vendor Comments And Credit

Discovery Credit

CNA: Zellic (en)

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