uutils coreutils chmod Path Traversal Bypass of –preserve-root_CVE-2026-35338

7.3 / 10

HIGH

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

Description

A vulnerability in the chmod utility of uutils coreutils allows users to bypass the --preserve-root safety mechanism. The implementation only validates if the target path is literally / and does not canonicalize the path. An attacker or accidental user can use path variants such as /../ or symbolic links to execute destructive recursive operations (e.g., chmod -R 000) on the entire root filesystem, leading to system-wide permission loss and potential complete system breakdown.

Basic Information

ID CVE-2026-35338

Source canonical

Published Apr 22, 2026 at 16:07

Affected Product

Vendor Uutils

Product coreutils

Affected Versions Uutils coreutils 0

CWE Classification

CWE-22

References

{
    "lastseen": "",
    "description": "A vulnerability in the chmod utility of uutils coreutils allows users to bypass the --preserve-root safety mechanism. The implementation only validates if the target path is literally / and does not canonicalize the path. An attacker or accidental user can use path variants such as /../ or symbolic links to execute destructive recursive operations (e.g., chmod -R 000) on the entire root filesystem, leading to system-wide permission loss and potential complete system breakdown.",
    "published": "2026-04-22T16:07:31.316Z",
    "modified": "2026-04-22T16:07:31.316Z",
    "type": "cve",
    "title": "uutils coreutils chmod Path Traversal Bypass of --preserve-root",
    "source": "canonical",
    "references": "https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/10033\nhttps://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.6.0",
    "id": "CVE-2026-35338",
    "bulletinFamily": "",
    "cwe": [
        "CWE-22"
    ],
    "cvelist": null,
    "sourceData": "Uutils coreutils 0",
    "sourceHref": "",
    "cvss": {
        "score": 7.3,
        "severity": "HIGH",
        "vector": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
        "version": "3.1"
    },
    "cvss2": [],
    "cvss3": {
        "version": "",
        "vectorString": "",
        "baseScore": 0,
        "baseSeverity": "",
        "attackVector": "",
        "attackComplexity": "",
        "privilegesRequired": "",
        "userInteraction": "",
        "scope": "",
        "confidentialityImpact": "",
        "integrityImpact": "",
        "availabilityImpact": "",
        "cvssV3": {
            "version": "",
            "vectorString": "",
            "baseScore": 0,
            "baseSeverity": "",
            "attackVector": "",
            "attackComplexity": "",
            "privilegesRequired": "",
            "userInteraction": "",
            "scope": "",
            "confidentialityImpact": "",
            "integrityImpact": "",
            "availabilityImpact": ""
        }
    },
    "href": "",
    "category_name": "CVE",
    "post_link": "",
    "product": "coreutils",
    "version": "0",
    "vendor": "Uutils",
    "ai_description": "",
    "ai_severity": "",
    "ai_vendor": "",
    "ai_product": "",
    "ai_version": "",
    "ai_score": 0
}