GitHub Advisoryadvisory · crates.io
GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445 chmod: --preserve-root bypassed by any path that resolves to root (e.g. /../)
HIGH
Official page ↗
- Aliases
- CVE-2026-35338
- Ecosystem
- crates.io
- Packages
- uu_chmod
- Severity
- High
- CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- Weaknesses
- CWE-22, CWE-59
- Reviewed
- 2026-07-06
Affected packages
• crates.io uu_chmod: < 0.6.0 → fixed in 0.6.0
Description
`Chmoder::chmod()` only compares the literal argument against `Path::new("/")`, so the `--preserve-root` guard is bypassed by any path that *resolves* to root — a symlink to `/` or simply `/../`.
```
if self.recursive && self.preserve_root && file == Path::new("/") {
return Err(ChmodError::PreserveRoot("/".to_string()).into());
}
```
PoC — recursively chmods the entire filesystem to `000` despite `--preserve-root`:
```
chmod -R --preserve-root 000 /../ -v
```
Impact: `--preserve-root` is the documented safeguard against destructive recursive operations on `/`. Bypassing it allows `chmod -R` to alter permissions across the whole filesystem, causing a complete system breakdown. Recommendation: canonicalize the target path before comparing against root.
Remediation: Acknowledged by Canonical; fixed in commit 413055b3.
---
_Reported by Zellic in the *uutils coreutils Program Security Assessment* (prepared for Canonical, Jan 20 2026), audited commit `3a07ffc5a9bd4c283e75afa548ba1f1957bad242`. Finding 3.1. Credit: Zellic._
Related
Alias · CVE (1)
- CVE-2026-35338 A vulnerability in the chmod utility of uutils coreutils allows users to bypass the --preserve-root safety mechanism. vulnerability
References
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/security/advisories/GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445 web
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35338 advisory
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/10033 web
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/commit/413055b378fa6fe2299c5e5f538c8e6e841ab810 web
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils package
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.6.0 web