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rsync CVE-2026-53802

| EUVDEUVD-2026-58088 HIGH
UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following (CWE-61)
2026-08-13 VulnCheck
8.4
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: VulnCheck
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Severity by source

Vendor (VulnCheck) PRIMARY
8.4 HIGH
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:N/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
vuln.today AI
5.5 MEDIUM

Local access with low privileges required; file read only, so I:N; no availability impact; scope unchanged as daemon reads within its own context.

3.1 AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
4.0 AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
SUSE
5.5 MEDIUM
AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Red Hat
7.1 HIGH
qualitative

Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).

CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
X

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Source Code Evidence Fetched
Aug 13, 2026 - 15:51 vuln.today
Analysis Generated
Aug 13, 2026 - 15:51 vuln.today
CVE Published
Aug 13, 2026 - 14:32 cve.org
HIGH 8.4

DescriptionCVE.org

rsync before 3.5.0 contains an arbitrary file read vulnerability that allows attackers to read files accessible to the rsync daemon process by exploiting symlink following in input configuration file handling including --files-from, --password-file, and filter merge files. Attackers can place a symlink at a predictable --files-from or --password-file path, or supply a --files-from path that escapes the daemon module root, to read arbitrary files accessible to the rsync process.

AnalysisAI

Arbitrary file read in rsync before 3.5.0 enables attackers with local low-privilege access to read files accessible to the rsync daemon process by exploiting improper symlink resolution in input configuration file handling. The vulnerability affects --files-from, --password-file, and filter merge file paths, allowing placement of a symlink at a predictable argument path or supply of a --files-from path that escapes the daemon module root. No public exploit code or active exploitation (CISA KEV) has been identified at time of analysis; the vendor has released a confirmed fix in rsync 3.5.0.

Technical ContextAI

rsync is a ubiquitous file synchronization utility widely deployed on Linux and Unix systems, identified by CPE cpe:2.3:a:rsyncproject:rsync:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*. CWE-61 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access - Link Following) describes the root cause class: rsync fails to validate or restrict symlink targets when processing user-influenced input configuration files, specifically --files-from, --password-file, and filter merge files passed to the daemon. When the daemon resolves these paths without enforcing module root boundaries or stripping symlink traversal, an attacker-controlled symlink can redirect the daemon's file read operations to arbitrary filesystem locations accessible under the daemon process's effective UID. This is structurally similar to TOCTOU-adjacent link-following bugs where path resolution and access control are decoupled.

RemediationAI

Vendor-released patch: rsync 3.5.0. Upgrade immediately to rsync 3.5.0, available at https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0, and described in detail at https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/NEWS#3.5.0. This is designated a major security release by the rsync project. As compensating controls prior to patching: restrict which local users can invoke the rsync daemon with --files-from or --password-file arguments, as this directly removes the attacker's ability to supply malicious paths - trade-off is reduced scheduling flexibility for legitimate users. Enforce strict chroot module root configurations in rsyncd.conf to limit the daemon's filesystem visibility - this reduces the value of any files read via symlink traversal, though chroot alone does not eliminate the bug. Audit and minimize the effective UID/GID of the rsync daemon process; running the daemon as a dedicated low-privilege account with access only to sync directories limits the impact of unauthorized reads. Where operationally viable, disable daemon-mode rsync in favor of SSH-tunneled rsync (rsync over ssh), which eliminates daemon attack surface entirely.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Moderate
Product Status
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-ESPOS Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP4-LTSS Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-ESPOS Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15 SP5-LTSS Affected
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3 Affected

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CVE-2026-53802 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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