Coreutils

The sort utility in uutils coreutils crashes with a process panic when the --files0-from option processes inputs containing non-UTF-8 filenames, allowing local authenticated attackers to cause denial of service. Unlike GNU sort, which handles filenames as raw bytes, uutils enforces UTF-8 encoding via expect() calls that immediately panic on invalid sequences. A proof-of-concept exploit exists; SSVC analysis indicates partial technical impact with non-automatable exploitation.

The comm utility in uutils coreutils drains FIFO and pipe streams before performing file comparison due to premature data consumption in the are_files_identical function, causing silent data loss and potential indefinite hangs on infinite streams. Local authenticated users can trigger this vulnerability to corrupt or lose data in piped workflows, affecting the integrity of command-line data processing chains.

The comm utility in uutils coreutils silently corrupts binary and non-UTF-8 encoded file output by replacing invalid UTF-8 byte sequences with the Unicode replacement character (U+FFFD), diverging from GNU comm's byte-preserving behavior. This affects any user comparing files with legacy encodings or binary content, resulting in data integrity loss. A proof-of-concept demonstrating the lossy conversion exists, and a patch is available.

The tail utility in uutils coreutils discloses sensitive file contents through improper symlink handling when using the --follow=name option. Unlike GNU tail, uutils continues monitoring a file path after it has been replaced with a symbolic link, causing it to output the contents of the link's target. A local attacker with write access to a monitored directory can exploit this to exfiltrate sensitive system files such as /etc/shadow when a privileged user (e.g., root) runs tail in follow mode. Publicly available exploit code exists, and the vulnerability requires local access and specific deployment conditions (privileged tail process monitoring user-writable directories).

Silent data corruption in uutils coreutils dd utility results from unconditionally suppressing truncation errors on regular files and directories, allowing backup and migration scripts to report successful operations while destination files contain old or corrupted data when disk space is exhausted or file systems are read-only.

The cut utility in uutils coreutils fails to suppress non-delimited lines when the -s (only-delimited) option is used with a newline character as the delimiter, causing unfiltered data to be passed to downstream processes. Affected versions prior to 0.8.0 exhibit this logic error, which has low real-world impact due to local-only attack vector and partial technical scope, though it violates strict data filtering contracts that scripts may depend upon.

mktemp utility in uutils coreutils mishandles empty TMPDIR environment variables by creating temporary files in the current working directory instead of falling back to /tmp, potentially exposing sensitive data if the CWD has overly permissive access controls. Affects uutils coreutils versions prior to 0.6.0 and requires local attacker with limited privileges to manipulate the environment or exploit overly accessible working directories; CVSS 3.3 reflects low severity (local access, limited confidentiality impact) despite information disclosure risk.

Local privilege escalation in uutils coreutils mkfifo allows authenticated users to downgrade permissions on arbitrary files to world-readable mode. When mkfifo attempts to create a FIFO at a path where a file already exists, it erroneously continues execution and calls set_permissions on the existing file, changing its mode to default (typically 644 after umask). This can expose sensitive files like SSH private keys (~/.ssh/id_rsa) or application secrets to unauthorized local users. CISA SSVC confirms proof-of-concept code exists with total technical impact, though EPSS data is not available and the vulnerability is not yet in CISA KEV, indicating exploitation remains theoretical rather than widespread.

uutils coreutils chown and chgrp utilities return incorrect exit codes during recursive directory operations, masking ownership change failures and allowing administrative scripts to incorrectly assume successful permission transfers. When processing multiple files recursively, the final exit code reflects only the last file's result; if that file succeeds, the command returns 0 even if earlier operations failed due to permission errors. This integrity flaw affects local users with limited privileges on systems running affected versions below 0.6.0, creating risk of security misconfigurations in automated deployment and configuration management scripts.

The chmod utility in uutils coreutils versions prior to 0.6.0 incorrectly reports success (exit code 0) when recursively processing multiple files, even if permission changes fail on earlier files due to access restrictions or other errors. This causes scripts and automation to proceed under a false assumption that all files were modified correctly, potentially leaving sensitive files with unintended or restrictive permissions.

The chmod utility in uutils coreutils versions before 0.6.0 allows local authenticated users to bypass --preserve-root protections and recursively modify permissions on the entire root filesystem. The implementation fails to canonicalize paths before validation, accepting path traversal variants like /../ or symbolic links that resolve to root. An attacker with low privileges can execute commands like 'chmod -R 000 /../' to cause system-wide permission loss and complete system failure. CVSS 7.3 indicates high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. SSVC framework confirms total technical impact with exploitation requiring user interaction (non-automatable). Vendor patch available in version 0.6.0 (released January 2025). EPSS data not provided; no evidence of active exploitation (not in CISA KEV), though proof-of-concept is trivially reproducible from the description.