Vulnerability · Published Jul 14, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2026-54572rclone: Unvalidated symlink target in local `--links` — arbitrary file write from an untrusted remote

High 7.5

In plain English

A high-severity security flaw in rclone from rclone. Proof-of-concept exploit code is public. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 0.4% (higher than 35% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)7.5High

Exploit odds (30 days)0.4%top 65.1% of all CVEs

Exploited in the wildNo reportsCISA SSVC: poc

Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

Rclone is a command-line program to sync files and directories to and from different cloud storage providers. Prior to 1.74.4, with -l/--links, rclone serializes symlinks as .rclonelink text objects and recreates them on a local destination without validating the target, allowing an attacker-controlled remote to plant an escaping symlink and cause a following object write to land outside the destination with attacker-chosen contents. This issue is fixed in version 1.74.4.

Affected packages & fixed versions

Ecosystem	Package	Fixed in	Advisory
Debian:12	rclone	no fix listed	DEBIAN-CVE-2026-54572
Debian:13	rclone	no fix listed	DEBIAN-CVE-2026-54572
Go	github.com/rclone/rclone	1.74.4	GHSA-cf44-9pgv-m4xc
Go	github.com/rclone/rclone	1.74.4	GO-2026-6191
Ubuntu:26.10	rclone	no fix listed	UBUNTU-CVE-2026-54572

Affected products (as reported)

Vendor	Product	Versions
rclone	rclone	< 1.74.4

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

References

https://github.com/rclone/rclone/security/advisories/GHSA-cf44-9pgv-m4xc x_refsource_CONFIRM
https://github.com/rclone/rclone/commit/1154afebee986180b489084d38e2a0c578751498 x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/rclone/rclone/commit/874a804f5289517defdd7de68b2a374837080265 x_refsource_MISC
https://github.com/rclone/rclone/releases/tag/v1.74.4 x_refsource_MISC