CVE-2026-35338CWE-22

uutils coreutils chmod Path Traversal Bypass of --preserve-root

High · published April 22, 2026

CVSS v3.1
7.3
EPSS
0%
Percentile
9.3
In the wild
Unconfirmed
What it is

A vulnerability in the chmod utility of uutils coreutils allows users to bypass the --preserve-root safety mechanism. The implementation only validates if the target path is literally / and does not canonicalize the path. An attacker or accidental user can use path variants such as /../ or symbolic links to execute destructive recursive operations (e.g., chmod -R 000) on the entire root filesystem, leading to system-wide permission loss and potential complete system breakdown.

The record
Technical detail
CVSS v3.1
7.3 · HIGH
Vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVSS v4.0
Not supplied
EPSS
0.00199 · 9.3th percentile
Weakness
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Published
2026-04-22T16:07Z
EPSS history
Timeline
  • 22 APR 16:07Z
    uutils coreutils chmod Path Traversal Bypass of --preserve-root
    cvelistv5