GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445

Suggest an improvement
Source
https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445
Import Source
https://github.com/github/advisory-database/blob/main/advisories/github-reviewed/2026/07/GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445/GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445.json
JSON Data
https://api.osv.dev/v1/vulns/GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445
Aliases
Published
2026-07-06T17:41:45Z
Modified
2026-07-06T17:56:19Z
Severity
  • 7.3 (High) CVSS_V3 - CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H CVSS Calculator
Summary
chmod: --preserve-root bypassed by any path that resolves to root (e.g. /../)
Details

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.

Database specific 
{
    "cwe_ids": [
        "CWE-22",
        "CWE-59"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-07-06T17:41:45Z",
    "nvd_published_at": null,
    "severity": "HIGH"
}
References

Affected packages

crates.io / uu_chmod

Package

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

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-4c7q-4928-8445/GHSA-4c7q-4928-8445.json"