uutils coreutils env Local Denial of Service via Improper Handling of Backslashes in Split-String Mode
Summary
| CVE | CVE-2026-35377 |
|---|---|
| State | PUBLISHED |
| Assigner | canonical |
| Source Priority | CVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback |
| Published | 2026-04-22 17:16:42 UTC |
| Updated | 2026-04-22 21:23:52 UTC |
| Description | A logic error in the env utility of uutils coreutils causes a failure to correctly parse command-line arguments when utilizing the -S (split-string) option. In GNU env, backslashes within single quotes are treated literally (with the exceptions of \\ and \'). However, the uutils implementation incorrectly attempts to validate these sequences, resulting in an "invalid sequence" error and an immediate process termination with an exit status of 125 when encountering valid but unrecognized sequences like \a or \x. This divergence from GNU behavior breaks compatibility for automated scripts and administrative workflows that rely on standard split-string semantics, leading to a local denial of service for those operations. |
Risk And Classification
Primary CVSS: v3.1 3.3 LOW from [email protected]
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Problem Types: CWE-20 | CWE-20 CWE-20: Improper Input Validation
| Version | Source | Type | Score | Severity | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.1 | [email protected] | Secondary | 3.3 | LOW | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
| 3.1 | CNA | CVSS | 3.3 | LOW | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L |
CVSS v3.1 Breakdown
Attack Vector
LocalAttack Complexity
LowPrivileges Required
LowUser Interaction
NoneScope
UnchangedConfidentiality
NoneIntegrity
NoneAvailability
LowCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L
Vendor Declared Affected Products
References
| Reference | Source | Link | Tags |
|---|---|---|---|
| github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/11512 | [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)
There are currently no legacy QID mappings associated with this CVE.