CVE-2026-53803 json
rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Following Arbitrary File Overwrite
published 2026-08-13 2 mo ago modified 2026-10-24 15 d ago also EUVD-2026-58089
- cvss
- 7.8
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 0.2%
- EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 13%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink following vulnerability that allows local attackers to overwrite arbitrary files by placing a symlink at a predictable output path such as --log-file, --write-batch, or daemon-mode log and statistics paths. Attackers can exploit rsync's failure to reject symlinks during ancillary file writes to redirect output to arbitrary filesystem locations, achieving local privilege escalation on installations where rsync runs with elevated privileges such as setuid or privileged daemon configurations.
Patch / fix
- RsyncProject rsync 3.5.0
- rsync Debian 12 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb12u1
- rsync Debian 13 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1
- rsync Debian 14 3.5.0+ds1-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2026-53803
- rsync RHEL 8 3.1.3-28.el8_10
- rsync-daemon RHEL 8 3.1.3-28.el8_10
- rsync RHEL 10.2 3.5.0-3.el10_2
- rsync-daemon RHEL 10.2 3.5.0-3.el10_2
- rsync-rrsync RHEL 10.2 3.5.0-3.el10_2
- rsync RHEL 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
- rsync-daemon RHEL 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
- rsync-rrsync RHEL 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
red hat advisories RHSA-2026:74095RHSA-2026:67463RHSA-2026:67462
- rsync SLES 16.0, Linux Micro 6.2, SLES for SAP applications 16.0 3.4.1-160000.6.1
- rsync Linux Micro 6.0 3.2.7-8.1
- rsync Linux Micro 6.1 3.3.0-slfo.1.1_7.1
- rsync SLES for SAP 15 SP6, SLES 15 SP6-LTSS, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP7 3.2.7-150600.3.24.1
- rsync SLES for SAP 15 SP5, SLES for SAP 15 SP4, SLES 15 SP5-LTSS +8 more 3.2.3-150400.3.34.1
suse advisories SUSE-SU-2026:23289-1SUSE-SU-2026:23323-1SUSE-SU-2026:23253-1SUSE-SU-2026:23254-1SUSE-SU-2026:3657-1SUSE-SU-2026:3634-1
- rsync openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.5.1-1.1
- rsync openSUSE Leap 16.0 3.4.1-160000.6.1
opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:11869-1openSUSE-SU-2026:21650-1
- rsync AlmaLinux 8 3.1.3-28.el8_10
- rsync-daemon AlmaLinux 8 3.1.3-28.el8_10
- rsync AlmaLinux 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
- rsync-daemon AlmaLinux 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
- rsync-rrsync AlmaLinux 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
- rsync AlmaLinux 10 3.5.0-3.el10_2
- rsync-daemon AlmaLinux 10 3.5.0-3.el10_2
- rsync-rrsync AlmaLinux 10 3.5.0-3.el10_2
almalinux advisories ALSA-2026:74095ALSA-2026:67462ALSA-2026:67463
- rsync Rocky Linux 8 3.1.3-28.el8_10
- rsync Rocky Linux 9 3.2.7-1.el9_8
- rsync Rocky Linux 10 3.5.0-3.el10_2
rocky linux advisories RLSA-2026:74095RLSA-2026:67462RLSA-2026:67463
- rsync Alpine 3.24, Alpine 3.23, Alpine 3.22 +1 more 3.5.0-r0
alpine advisories ALPINE-CVE-2026-53803
Alpine secdb © Alpine Linux, from https://secdb.alpinelinux.org via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0
Vendor advisories
What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.
red hat product security vex CVE-2026-53803 updated cvss 7.0
rsync: rsync: Local Privilege Escalation via Symlink Following
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 rsync Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 rsync Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 5 openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9affected: workaround, no fix available
-
Red Hat Cost Management On-Premise 1 costmanagement/costmanagement-ui-rhel10 1791460851fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:79357
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 9) rsync-daemon 3.2.7-1.el9_8, rsync-rrsync 3.2.7-1.el9_8fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:67462
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 10) rsync-daemon 3.5.0-3.el10_2, rsync-rrsync 3.5.0-3.el10_2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:67463
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 8) rsync 3.1.3-28.el8_10, rsync-daemon 3.1.3-28.el8_10fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:74095
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 9) rsync 3.2.7-1.el9_8fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:67462
-
Red Hat Enterprise Linux BaseOS (v. 10) rsync 3.5.0-3.el10_2fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:67463
-
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4.22 rhcos 4.22.9.8.202609221802fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2026:71446
Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf
CISA SSVC
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- no
- Technical impact
- total
- Assessed
- 2 mo ago
Exploit prediction
0.23% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 13% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 4.0 | 8.5 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
| CNA | 3.1 | 7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| CNA | 4.0 | 8.5 | CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X |
Affected products
- RsyncProject rsync
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access
References
-
github.com
/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-g9f4-7q66-9582
vendor-advisory
-
github.com
/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0
release-notes, product
-
vulncheck.com
/advisories/rsync-symlink-following-arbitrary-file-overwrite
third-party-advisory, release-notes
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2026-53803
- NVD CVE-2026-53803
Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.