GHSA-239g-2685-54x3

Suggest an improvement
Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-239g-2685-54x3
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/07/GHSA-239g-2685-54x3/GHSA-239g-2685-54x3.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-239g-2685-54x3
Aliases
Published
2026-07-06T19:54:08Z
Modified
2026-07-06T20:11:15Z
Severity
  • 6.3 (Medium) CVSS_V3 - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H CVSS Calculator
Summary
install: TOCTOU symlink race (unlink-then-create without O_EXCL) allows arbitrary file overwrite
Details

copy_file in install/src/install.rs removes the destination then recreates it by pathname via File::create / fs::copy without O_EXCL/create_new. Between the unlink and the recreate, a local attacker with write access to the destination directory can drop in a symlink and redirect the write.

Impact: when install runs privileged into an attacker-writable directory (staging/build paths), the race allows redirecting writes to arbitrary files and overwriting sensitive system files (/etc/passwd, /etc/shadow). Recommendation: create atomically with create_new/O_EXCL and copy via the opened fd rather than reopening by path.

Remediation: Acknowledged by Canonical; fixed in commit b5bbabc1.

Reported by Zellic in the uutils coreutils Program Security Assessment (prepared for Canonical, Jan 20 2026), audited commit 3a07ffc5a9bd4c283e75afa548ba1f1957bad242. Finding 3.50. Credit: Zellic.

Database specific 
{
    "cwe_ids": [
        "CWE-367",
        "CWE-59"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-06T19:54:08Z",
    "nvd_published_at": null,
    "severity": "MODERATE"
}
References

Affected packages

crates.io / uu_install

Package

Name
uu_install
View open source insights on deps.dev
Purl
pkg:cargo/uu_install

Affected ranges

Type
SEMVER
Events
Introduced
0 Unknown introduced version / All previous versions are affected
Fixed
0.6.0

Database specific

source 
"https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/07/GHSA-239g-2685-54x3/GHSA-239g-2685-54x3.json"