Weakness (CWE)
CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
How to prevent it (1 mitigation)
-
Architecture and Design
Follow the principle of least privilege when assigning access rights to entities in a software system.
Denying access to a file can prevent an attacker from replacing that file with a link to a sensitive file. Ensure good compartmentalization in the system to provide protected areas that can be trusted.
Source: MITRE CWE-59
1,130 results · Feed
-
Critical 9.4CVE-2026-77179 Public exploit
Docker Sandboxes guest can write arbitrary macOS host files via a symlink in the virtio-fs stored-path fallback
On macOS, the virtio-fs host server used by Docker Sandboxes improperly follows symlinks when reopening an unlinked file from a stored path. A malicious guest can replace a parent directory with a symlink, escape the shared workspace, and read or modify arbit…
-
High 8.4
This issue was addressed with improved handling of symlinks. This issue is fixed in macOS Golden Gate 27. An app may be…
-
High 8.4
tarfile extraction filters allow file modification and content disclosure via hard link to symlink
In CPython 3.13 and earlier, the tarfile module's data and tar extraction filters are vulnerable to crafted archives containing a hard link to a symbolic link. Such archives may cause extraction to modify the permissions or modification time of a file outside…
-
Medium 6.9
MikroTik RouterOS Path Traversal via Container OCI/tar Image Extraction
MikroTik RouterOS before 7.24.2 contains a path traversal vulnerability in the container package OCI/tar image extraction that allows attackers to write files outside the container root by supplying a crafted container image with symlinks pointing to arbitrar…
-
Medium 6.3
nanocoai NanoClaw Attachment agent-route.ts forwardAttachedFiles link following
A vulnerability was found in nanocoai NanoClaw up to 2.1.17. This issue affects the function forwardAttachedFiles of the file src/modules/agent-to-agent/agent-route.ts of the component Attachment Handler. The manipulation results in link following. The attack…
-
Medium 6.8
File Browser through 2.63.23 Path Traversal via Symlink Alias
File Browser through 2.63.23 applies path rules to the requested lexical path but resolves symbolic links without reapplying rules to the target, allowing authenticated users to bypass deny rules. Attackers can read and overwrite rule-denied files by accessin…
-
Medium 5.7
tarfile hardlink fallback ignores custom extraction filter rejection via None
When tarfile extracts a link on a system that doesn't support links, it falls back to extracting a member from the archive. In this case, the filter function is run twice: once for the extracted member, and once with name set to the location of the link. For …
-
Medium 6.3
Hugo before v0.165.0 Symlink Confinement Bypass via resources.Get
Hugo is a static site generator. In versions after v0.123.0 and before v0.165.0, symlinks in parent directories were not dropped during direct resource lookups, allowing path confinement to be bypassed. An attacker who can place — or who convinces a site auth…
-
High 7.1
rclone: Directory metadata (chmod/chown/chtimes) applied through a planted symlink in rclone local --links escapes the destination
rclone is a command-line program to sync files and directories to and from different cloud storage providers. Prior to 1.75.1, when backend/local runs with --links, a source .rclonelink object can plant a symlink in the destination and later directory metadat…
-
Medium 5.6
Crun: crun: /dev/null symlink follow during stdio reopen allows host bind-mount write and chown
A flaw was found in crun. After pivot_root, reopening /dev/null for stdio can follow a symlink and attach a host file to container stdio, then change that file's ownership. Affected versions are crun 1.29.1 and earlier. Default configurations that mount a fre…
-
Medium 5.6
Crun: crun: /dev/console symlink follow allows root-owned file creation outside the rootfs
A flaw was found in crun. When the container configuration does not give /dev a dedicated mount, terminal setup can redirect /dev/console onto an attacker-controlled path, including via the read-only-rootfs bind-mount fallback. Affected versions are crun 1.29…
-
High 8.8
Bubblewrap: bubblewrap: symlink traversal via /oldroot allows writing files outside sandbox during setup
A flaw was found in bubblewrap. During sandbox setup, creating files or directories under the new root can follow a parent symlink onto the host via /oldroot, writing attacker-chosen paths outside the sandbox as the launching user. This happens before the san…
-
Medium 6.0
Improper Link Resolution in Okta Verify for Windows Uninstaller Data Removal
The Okta Verify for Windows uninstaller does not verify whether the user data directory is a filesystem junction before deleting its contents with elevated privileges. The delete operation follows the junction target, resulting in recursive deletion of uninte…
-
High 7.8
Windows Update Stack Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Update Stack allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
KEV Sep 8, 2026 -
Medium 4.7
Windows NTFS Tampering Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows NTFS allows an authorized attacker to perform tampering locally.
-
High 7.8
Windows Setup Files Cleanup Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Setup Files Cleanup allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
-
High 7.0
Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) Deduplication Service Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Resilient File System (ReFS) Deduplication Service allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
-
High 8.1
Windows Shell Spoofing Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Shell allows an unauthorized attacker to perform spoofing over a network.
-
Medium 4.7
Windows Container Manager Service Security Feature Bypass Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Container Manager Service allows an authorized attacker to bypass a security feature locally.
-
High 7.0
Windows NTFS Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows NTFS allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges locally.
-
Medium 5.5
Windows Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Device Host Information Disclosure Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in Windows Universal Plug and Play (UPnP) Device Host allows an authorized attacker to disclose information locally.
-
High 8.8
Microsoft SQL Server Elevation of Privilege Vulnerability
Improper link resolution before file access ('link following') in SQL Server allows an authorized attacker to elevate privileges over a network.
-
Medium 5.3
Glib2: toctou symlink race in `g_file_create_replace_destination` fallback path
A flaw was found in GLib2. When g_file_replace() is used with G_FILE_CREATE_REPLACE_DESTINATION and creating the .goutputstream-XXXXXX temporary file fails, the library unlinks the destination and recreates it without exclusive creation or symlink protection.…
-
Low 2.5
ImageMagick before 7.1.2-30 Path Traversal via TOCTOU Symlink Race
ImageMagick before 7.1.2-30 and 6.9.13-55 contains a time-of-check-time-of-use (TOCTOU) vulnerability in the video decoder that allows attackers to bypass path policy write restrictions via symlink swaps. An attacker can replace a symlink between policy valid…
-
Low 3.3
ImageMagick before 7.1.2-30 Path Policy TOCTOU Symlink Race
ImageMagick before 7.1.2-30 contains a time-of-check-time-of-use vulnerability in path policy enforcement on Windows that allows attackers to bypass read or write restrictions by exploiting symlink race conditions. Attackers can swap symlinks between policy v…
-
Medium 6.5
SiYuan before v3.8.2 Path Traversal via symlink in file API
SiYuan versions before v3.8.2 contain a path traversal vulnerability in the reader-accessible file-read endpoint that follows symlinks when opening authorized asset paths. Attackers with reader role can request a logical asset under data/assets/ that is a sym…
-
Medium 6.6
LiME through 1.12.0 Arbitrary File Overwrite via Symlink Following
LiME through 1.12.0 fails to validate the disk acquisition output path and does not use O_NOFOLLOW when opening the operator-supplied path parameter, allowing unprivileged local users to overwrite arbitrary root-owned files. An attacker who controls the outpu…
-
High 7.0
Util-linux: util-linux: x-mount.subdir detached-tree resolution can escape via intermediate symlinks
The X-mount.subdir option uses a detached-tree fast path on Linux 6.15 and later and passes the configured subdirectory to open_tree() with AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW. That flag does not stop intermediate symlink traversal or keep resolution inside the newly mounted…
-
High 7.1
pnpm: pacquet trust-lockfile install can create dependency symlinks outside the project
## Summary A crafted lockfile alias could reach several install-time filesystem joins. With `--trust-lockfile` or a frozen lockfile, traversal segments could create links outside the intended project or `node_modules` boundary. This patch validates dependency…
-
High 7.2
Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following') in Winlogbeat Leading to Arbitrary File Write and Denial of Service
A local vulnerability in the Winlogbeat Windows installer caused runtime files to be placed in a directory writable by unprivileged users. A low-privileged attacker with existing access to the system could pre-position malicious filesystem links, causing a su…
-
Medium 5.8
Backblaze Client for Windows Improper Link Resolution Vulnerability
A vulnerability in the Backblaze Client allows a local user to make the system not bootable by creating a link from Backblaze's folder to Windows OS system files during a backup. Successful exploitation requires an administrator-level system change that resul…
-
Medium 6.6
aqua: Archive extraction in aqua follows attacker-planted symlinks, allowing writes outside the install directory
aqua is a declarative command-line version manager written in Go. Prior to 2.60.1, pkg/unarchive/archives.go in the handler.HandleFile method calls os.Symlink with archives.FileInfo.LinkTarget without verifying that the target remains under the extraction des…
-
High 8.5
KubeVela Terraform remote loader DoS via unbounded file read
KubeVela is an open source application delivery platform. Prior to 1.9.14, from 1.10.0-alpha.1 until 1.10.9, and from 1.11.0-alpha.1 until 1.11.0-alpha.4, the Terraform remote configuration loader in pkg/controller/utils/capability.go, GetTerraformConfigurati…
-
High 7.5
gitoxide before 0.52.1 Repository Boundary Violation via symlinked .gitmodules
gitoxide before 0.52.1 follows symlinks when reading the worktree .gitmodules file, allowing attackers to inject out-of-repository bytes into submodule metadata. Attackers can create a malicious repository with a symlinked .gitmodules pointing outside the rep…
-
Medium 5.3
gitoxide before 0.33.0 Path Traversal via symlink following
gix-worktree-state before 0.33.0 (part of gitoxide) allows writing files outside the worktree on Windows. gix_worktree_state::checkout() follows an existing terminal symlink during non-exclusive (incremental) materialization (destination_is_initially_empty: f…
-
Medium 6.8
Fixed predictable /tmp/ziptransformer work directory enables symlink pre-creation
A local unprivileged user on the same host can redirect all Zip/UnZip transformer output into a directory of their choosing by pre-creating /tmp/ziptransformer as a symlink before the application starts. Spring Integration 7.1.0 Spring Integration 7.0.0 - 7.0…
-
High 7.1
NLTK before 3.10.3 Hardlink File Overwrite via downloader
NLTK versions before 3.10.3 contain a filesystem containment bypass vulnerability in the Downloader.download and Downloader.incr_download methods that allows attackers to overwrite files outside the install root through pre-existing hardlinks. Attackers with …
-
High 7.0
NLTK through 3.10.3 Path Traversal via Model-Artifact APIs
NLTK through 3.10.3 contains a path traversal vulnerability in model-artifact APIs that bypass pathsec enforcement by using raw file operations on caller-controlled paths. Attackers can read or write files outside allowed sandbox roots through TransitionParse…
-
High 7.3
verify-usb before 1.4.9 Symlink Directory Traversal Code Execution
openssl-encrypt (pip package) before 1.4.9 contains a symlink-following flaw in its verify-usb v2 added-file allowlist scan. The scan enumerated the drive with rglob(), which in CPython does not descend into symlinked directories and treats the symlink as an …
-
Low 2.0
Arbitrary File Overwrite via Symlink Following in dool project
Dool in versions up to 1.3.8 is vulnerable to symlink following when the "--devel" flag is used, as the application opens a log file without the "O_NOFOLLOW" flag. A local attacker can exploit this by creating a symlink at the expected log file path pointing …