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MEDIUM5.0

GHSA-wq63-vh5h-pr5p

uutils coreutils has a UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following issue

Details

A logic error in the ln utility of uutils coreutils allows the utility to dereference a symbolic link target even when the --no-dereference (or -n) flag is explicitly provided. The implementation previously only honored the "no-dereference" intent if the --force (overwrite) mode was also enabled. This flaw causes ln to follow a symbolic link that points to a directory and create new links inside that target directory instead of treating the symbolic link itself as the destination. In environments where a privileged user or system script uses ln -n to update a symlink, a local attacker could manipulate existing symbolic links to redirect file creation into sensitive directories, potentially leading to unauthorized file creation or system misconfiguration.

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Affected packages

crates.io/coreutils
Introduced in: 0Fixed in: 0.8.0

Upgrade coreutils to 0.8.0 or newer (ecosystem crates.io).

References