CVE WatchAug 14, 2026

CVE-2026-53799

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability that allows local attackers to cause rsync to apply arbitrary ACLs or ext

CVSS

6.3

Medium

EPSS

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KEV

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Exploit Today

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0-100

Published: Aug 13, 2026 · Last modified: Aug 14, 2026 · CWE-59 · CWE-367

EPSS · 30d

Not enough EPSS history yet.

Technical 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.

Official references

Related CVEs

CVECVSSEPSSKEVRExploitTitleMod.

CVE-2026-199097.5 HIG

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———PAX Technology Q80 AIP File Parsing Link Following Remote Code Execution Vulnerability. This vulnerability allows network-adjacent attackers to execute arbitrary code on affected installations of PAX Technology Q80. Authentication is not required to exploit this vulnerability. The specific flaw exists within the parsing of AIP files. By creating a symbolic link, an attacker can abuse the installer process to write arbitrary files. An attacker can leverage this in conjunction with other vulnerabilities to execute code in the context of root. Was ZDI-CAN-30583.9h CVE-2026-169678.5 HIG

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———IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a remote authenticated attacker to gain unauthorized access to system objects due to a time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition involving symbolic links.16h CVE-2026-168967.1 HIG

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———IBM i 7.6, 7.5, 7.4, and 7.3 could allow a local authenticated attacker to obtain unauthorized access to files due to a time-of-check time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition.10h CVE-2026-704608.1 HIG

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———rsync 2.3.3 before 3.5.0 contains a path traversal vulnerability that allows a malicious sender to escape the module root by exploiting symlinks within the module file tree when using --partial-dir or --backup-dir options. Attackers with write access to place a symlink under the module root, or who can exploit a pre-existing trusted symlink, can direct file writes to locations outside the intended module root, achieving arbitrary file write relative to the module root parent.13h CVE-2026-538037.8 HIG

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———rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink following vulnerability that allows local attackers to overwrite arbitrary files by placing a symlink at a predictable output path such as --log-file, --write-batch, or daemon-mode log and statistics paths. Attackers can exploit rsync's failure to reject symlinks during ancillary file writes to redirect output to arbitrary filesystem locations, achieving local privilege escalation on installations where rsync runs with elevated privileges such as setuid or privileged daemon configurations.16h CVE-2026-538015.9 MED

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———rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability in the sender's directory scanning logic that allows attackers to cause the sender to enumerate and transfer files outside the module root's intended subtree. Attackers who can create or manipulate symlinks in a path component of the scanned tree can replace a symlink with a directory entry pointing outside the module root between the lstat() call and the subsequent opendir() call, exposing files beyond the intended root in both daemon-mode and non-daemon sender-side scanning.13h