CVE-2026-35372

medium

Description

A logic error in the ln utility of uutils coreutils allows the utility to dereference a symbolic link target even when the --no-dereference (or -n) flag is explicitly provided. The implementation previously only honored the "no-dereference" intent if the --force (overwrite) mode was also enabled. This flaw causes ln to follow a symbolic link that points to a directory and create new links inside that target directory instead of treating the symbolic link itself as the destination. In environments where a privileged user or system script uses ln -n to update a symlink, a local attacker could manipulate existing symbolic links to redirect file creation into sensitive directories, potentially leading to unauthorized file creation or system misconfiguration.

References

https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.8.0

https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/11253

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2026-04-22

Updated: 2026-04-22

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 4.6

Vector: CVSS2#AV:L/AC:L/Au:S/C:N/I:C/A:N

Severity: Medium

CVSS v3

Base Score: 5

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

Severity: Medium