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rsync EUVDEUVD-2026-58038

| CVE-2026-53800 MEDIUM
Improper Link Resolution Before File Access (CWE-59)
2026-08-13 VulnCheck
5.7
CVSS 4.0 · Vendor: VulnCheck
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Severity by source

Vendor (VulnCheck) PRIMARY
5.7 MEDIUM
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:H/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:H/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
4.7 MEDIUM

Local attack vector with low-privilege symlink access required; high complexity reflects timing-dependent race; impact is availability-only file deletion.

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

Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck).

CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck

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

Lifecycle Timeline

3
Source Code Evidence Fetched
Aug 13, 2026 - 16:04 vuln.today
Analysis Generated
Aug 13, 2026 - 16:04 vuln.today
CVE Published
Aug 13, 2026 - 14:40 cve.org
MEDIUM 5.7

DescriptionCVE.org

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability in the --remove-source-files feature that allows attackers with symlink creation access to cause arbitrary file deletion. Attackers can atomically substitute a symlink for a source file between transfer completion and the unlink() call, causing rsync to delete the symlink target rather than the intended source file.

AnalysisAI

Symlink race condition in rsync before 3.5.0 allows local attackers with symlink creation privileges to cause arbitrary file deletion via the --remove-source-files feature. By atomically substituting a symlink for a source file in the narrow TOCTOU window between transfer completion and the unlink() call, an attacker redirects deletion to any file the rsync process can reach. No public exploit has been identified at time of analysis, and active exploitation has not been confirmed by CISA KEV.

Technical ContextAI

The affected product is rsync (cpe:2.3:a:rsyncproject:rsync:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*) prior to version 3.5.0, a widely used file synchronization utility. The root cause is CWE-59 (Improper Link Resolution Before File Access), a classic Time-of-Check Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) race condition. When rsync completes a file transfer with the --remove-source-files flag, it calls unlink() to delete the original source file. In the narrow window between transfer completion and that unlink() call, an attacker who can create symlinks in the source directory can atomically replace the regular file with a symlink pointing to an arbitrary target. rsync then dereferences the symlink and deletes the target rather than the intended source file. The atomicity of the symlink substitution is what makes this exploitable despite the high-complexity rating.

RemediationAI

Upgrade rsync to version 3.5.0 or later, which was released as a major security release to address this and related issues; the full changelog is available at https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0 and release notes at https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/NEWS#3.5.0. If immediate upgrade is not possible, the primary workaround is to stop using the --remove-source-files flag and instead perform post-transfer cleanup via a separate, controlled deletion step that validates file identity (e.g., by inode) before unlinking. Additionally, restrict write and symlink-creation permissions in rsync source directories to only the rsync process account, preventing untrusted local users from performing the substitution. Note that permission restriction may not be feasible in shared-storage environments, reinforcing that patching is the preferred remediation.

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Vendor StatusVendor

SUSE

Severity: Important
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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EUVD-2026-58038 vulnerability details – vuln.today

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