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Vulnerability · Published Aug 13, 2026 · Assigned by VulnCheck

CVE-2026-53799rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition via ACL/xattr Application

Medium 6.3

In plain English

A medium-severity security flaw in rsync from RsyncProject. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.1% (higher than 2% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)6.3Medium
Exploit odds (30 days)0.1%top 98.0% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: none
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability that allows local attackers to cause rsync to apply arbitrary ACLs or extended attributes to unintended files by substituting a symlink at a predictable destination path between the file write and the subsequent acl_set_file() or lsetxattr() call. Attackers can exploit this timing window to redirect ACL and xattr application through a crafted symlink to files outside the intended destination tree, potentially granting elevated permissions and enabling local privilege escalation.

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Alpine:v3.21rsync3.5.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-53799
Alpine:v3.22rsync3.5.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-53799
Alpine:v3.23rsync3.5.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-53799
Alpine:v3.24rsync3.5.0-r0ALPINE-CVE-2026-53799
Debian:12rsyncno fix listedDEBIAN-CVE-2026-53799
Debian:13rsync3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53799
Debian:14rsync3.5.0+ds1-1DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53799
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSrsyncno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-53799
Ubuntu:24.04:LTSrsyncno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-53799
Ubuntu:26.04:LTSrsyncno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-53799
Ubuntu:26.10rsyncno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2026-53799

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
RsyncProject rsync 0 – through 3.4.4

Weakness: CWE-59, CWE-367 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

References