CVE-2026-53803

high

Description

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.

References

https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-symlink-following-arbitrary-file-overwrite

https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-g9f4-7q66-9582

https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0

Details

Source: Mitre, NVD

Published: 2026-08-13

Updated: 2026-08-13

Risk Information

CVSS v2

Base Score: 6.8

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

Severity: Medium

CVSS v3

Base Score: 7.8

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

Severity: High

CVSS v4

Base Score: 8.5

Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

Severity: High