Weakness (CWE)
CWE-61: UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following
The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.
How to prevent it (2 mitigations)
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Implementation
Symbolic link attacks often occur when a program creates a tmp directory that stores files/links. Access to the directory should be restricted to the program as to prevent attackers from manipulating the files.
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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-61
99 results · Clear filters · Feed
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High 7.9
Insecure Temporary File Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux
UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux. This issue affects Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux: from 8.5.3.-00 before 9.0.5-00.
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High 8.2
Insecure Temporary File Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux
UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux. This issue affects Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux: from 8.6.2.-00 before 9.0.5-00.
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High 7.3
Insecure Temporary File Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for AIX (for markets outside Japan) and Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager EX for AIX (for the Japanese market)
Insecure Temporary File Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for AIX (for markets outside Japan) and Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager EX for AIX (for the Japanese market). This issue affects Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for AIX: from 7.4.1-00 before 9.0.…
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High 8.2
Insecure Temporary File Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux
UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following Vulnerability in Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux. This issue affects Hitachi Dynamic Link Manager for Linux: from 8.6.2.-00 before 9.0.5-00.
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High 8.4
In FreedomBox before 26.15, unprivileged user accounts can read/write files for which they lack permissions by setting …
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High 7.8
Pi-hole: arbitrary root file clobber / chmod / disclosure via updatecheck.sh cron following /etc/pihole/versions symlink
Pi-hole is a DNS sinkhole that protects devices from unwanted content without installing any client-side software. From 6.4.2 until 6.5, the root-run advanced/Scripts/updatecheck.sh cron job applies truncate -s 0 and chmod 644 to /etc/pihole/versions while fo…
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High 7.9
Wasmtime before 36.0.18, 37.0.0 before 48.0.6, and 49.0.0 before 49.0.3 Sandbox Escape via Symlink Rename
wasmtime-wasi in Wasmtime before 36.0.18, 37.0.0 before 48.0.6, and 49.0.0 before 49.0.3 re-appends a trailing slash to rename source paths, causing renameat on macOS and FreeBSD hosts to follow directory symlinks. A guest with sandbox write access can rename…
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High 7.4
zip: Arbitrary file write outside the extraction directory, because ZipArchive::extract validates symlink targets lexically. (The defense against CVE-2025-29787 was broken in v7.2.0)
zip is a zip library for Rust that supports reading and writing simple ZIP files. From 7.2.0 until 9.0.0, ZipArchive::extract and ZipArchive::extract_unwrapped_root_dir use safe_prepare_path in src/read/zipfile.rs and simplified_components in src/path.rs to v…
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High 7.9
Wasmtime before 24.0.13, 25.0.0 before 36.0.14, 37.0.0 before 46.0.3, and 47.0.0 before 47.0.4 Sandbox Escape via Trailing Slashes
Wasmtime before 24.0.13, 25.0.0 before 36.0.14, 37.0.0 before 46.0.3, and 47.0.0 before 47.0.4 allows a filesystem sandbox escape in wasmtime-wasi because its cap-std dependency mishandles symlinks with trailing slashes on macOS and Linux kernels lacking open…
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High 7.8
Dulwich 0.24.0 before 1.2.8 Symlink Write-Through via porcelain.checkout paths
Dulwich from 0.24.0 before 1.2.8 contains a symlink following vulnerability in porcelain.checkout(paths=[...]) that allows attackers to write arbitrary files by abusing raw os.open without O_NOFOLLOW. Attackers can craft a repository where a worktree symlink …
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High 8.1
Nginx UI: Backup restore follows crafted symlinks into the live Nginx configuration path before restore flags are applied
Nginx UI is a web user interface for the Nginx web server. From 2.0.0 until 2.5.0, internal/backup/restore.go extracts inner archives before applying the restore_nginx and restore_nginx_ui flags and permits symlinks targeting the live Nginx configuration path…
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High 7.7
Arbitrary File Write via Write-Time Symlink Following (TOCTOU) in Claude Code
Claude Code validated that a target file path resided within the project working directory at permission-check time, but re-resolved the path at write time without repeating that validation. This time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) gap allowed an attacker w…
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High 7.1
Flatpak: flatpak: arbitrary write in root context via path traversal in deploy directory files/etc
A path traversal vulnerability in Flatpak's handling of the files/etc directory during app deployment allows a malicious Flatpak app to cause certain host system files (such as passwd, group, machine-id, or resolv.conf) to be emptied or replaced with a symlin…
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High 7.1
Flatpak: flatpak: arbitrary file deletion in root context via path traversal in deploy directory export/bin
A path traversal vulnerability in Flatpak's handling of the export/bin directory during app deployment allows a malicious Flatpak app to cause deletion of attacker-chosen files outside the deployment directory when the app is installed or upgraded. In system-…
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High 7.4
In Flatpak before 1.18.1, the revokefs writer, used by the flatpak-system-helper to receive repository data from unpriv…
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High 7.4
In Flatpak before 1.18.1, a malicious sandboxed app can obtain arbitrary read and write access to files on the host, wh…
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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 …
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High 7.3
Dell AppSync Version 4.6.0.0, Dell Metro Node Version 8.0.0, Dell UCC Edge Version 3.0.1, Dell VxRail Version 8.0.322, …
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High 7.1
rsync < 3.5.0 Arbitrary File Read via Symlink Following
rsync before 3.5.0 contains an arbitrary file read vulnerability that allows attackers to read files accessible to the rsync daemon process by exploiting symlink following in input configuration file handling including --files-from, --password-file, and filte…
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High 8.2
`proot-distro install` has a Symlink Escape (Arbitrary Host File Write) via Malicious Tar Archive
proot-distro is a utility for managing proot containers. Prior to version 5.1.5, proot-distro install extracted plain tarball root filesystems through _extract_plain_tar() in proot_distro/commands/install.py and Docker layers through _apply_layer() in proot_d…
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High 8.8
Authenticated RCE via Symlink Following in Cribl Stream Pack Git Import
Improper validation of symbolic links in the Pack Git import feature in Cribl Stream before 4.18.2 allows a remote authenticated attacker with Pack import and pipeline preview permissions to execute arbitrary code as the Cribl server process via a crafted Git…
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High 7.3CVE-2026-12080 Public exploit
Qemu-kvm: qemu-guest-agent: local privilege escalation via symlink attack in guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys
A flaw was found in the QEMU Guest Agent (qga). A local unprivileged user can exploit a vulnerability in the guest-ssh-add-authorized-keys command handler by manipulating symbolic links. This can occur either through a deterministic directory-symlink bypass o…
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High 7.1
LPE from suricata user to root due to chown in %post in suricata packaging
A UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following vulnerability in openSUSE Tumbleweed suricata package allows the suricata user to escalate to root. This issue affects openSUSE Tumbleweed: from ? before 8.0.5-2.1; openSUSE Tumbleweed: from ? before 8.0.5-2.1.
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High 7.8
Root escape via symlink plus trailing slash in os
On Unix systems, opening a file in an os.Root improperly follows symlinks to locations outside of the Root when the final path component of the a path is a symbolic link and the path ends in /. For example, 'root.Open("symlink/")' will open "symlink" even whe…
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High 8.2
containerd: Arbitrary host CRI log file read via symlink following in CRI checkpoint restore
containerd is an open-source container runtime. Versions prior to 2.3.2, 2.2.5 and 2.1.9 contain a bug where the CRI plugin restores container.log from a checkpoint image without validating a symlinked path. This could result in reading an arbitrary file on t…
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High 8.1CVE-2026-56876 Public exploit
extract-zip unvalidated symlink path traversal
extract-zip does not validate symlink targets when extracting zip archives. When processing a malicious zip file containing a symlink with a relative path like '../../../../etc/passwd', extract-zip will extract the symlink without validation, allowing it to p…
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High 7.3
Kubevirt: virt-handler-rhel9: kubevirt: safepath symlink following in virt-handler enables notify socket hijacking and node-level vm disruption
A flaw was found in KubeVirt's safepath package used by virt-handler. The OpenAtNoFollow function uses O_PATH|O_NOFOLLOW to obtain a file descriptor to a path leaf, but downstream operations resolve the path via /proc/self/fd/N using link-following syscalls. …
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High 7.8
Arbitrary file write in Language Servers for AWS
Missing symlink validation in Language Servers for AWS may allow an arbitrary file write outside of the workspace trust boundary. This may occur when a local user opens a workspace with a maliciously crafted symlink that resolves to a file path outside the wo…
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High 7.4
pwnlift before d7a9544, in a privileged deployment, contains a symlink following vulnerability in the upload handler in…
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High 8.3
OneDev: RCE through absolute-path symlink following allows low-privileged users to overwrite arbitrary server via TarUtils.untar
OneDev is a Git server with CI/CD, kanban, and packages. In versions 15.0.6 and below, TarUtils.untar() creates symbolic links verbatim from TAR entry getLinkName() without validating whether the target is an absolute path. A subsequent file entry in the same…
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High 8.5
LiteSpeed cPanel plugin before 2.4.8 (as distributed in LiteSpeed WHM PlugIn before 5.3.2.0) mishandles symlinks provid…
KEV Jun 15, 2026 -
High 7.2
Moby: Race condition in docker cp allows bind mount redirection to host path
Moby is an open source container framework. In Docker Engine prior to version 29.5.1, Docker Daemon versions 28.5.2 and prior, and Moby Daemon prior to version 2.0.0-beta.14, a race condition during docker cp mount setup allows a malicious container to redire…
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High —
skillctl: Path traversal and symlink-follow in skillctl allow arbitrary file disclosure and deletion
## Impact `skillctl` 0.1.0 and 0.1.1 contained four path-safety vulnerabilities that, in combination, allowed an attacker to: 1. **Exfiltrate arbitrary files on the operator's machine** by publishing a malicious skills library containing a symlink inside a sk…
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High 7.2
Vvveb < 1.0.8.3 Unrestricted File Upload RCE via Plugin Upload
Vvveb before 1.0.8.3 contains an unrestricted file upload vulnerability in the plugin upload endpoint that allows super_admin users to execute arbitrary PHP code by uploading a malicious plugin ZIP file. Attackers can craft a ZIP containing a plugin.php with …
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High 8.8CVE-2026-6475 Public exploit
PostgreSQL pg_basebackup and pg_rewind can overwrite unrelated files of origin superuser choice
Symlink following in PostgreSQL pg_basebackup plain format and in pg_rewind allows an origin superuser to overwrite local files, e.g. /var/lib/postgres/.bashrc, that hijack the operating system account. It will remain the case that starting the server after t…
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High 8.1
pgAdmin 4: Symbolic-link path traversal in File Manager allows arbitrary file write
Symbolic-link path traversal (CWE-61, CWE-22) in pgAdmin 4 File Manager. check_access_permission used os.path.abspath, which resolves '..' but does not resolve symbolic links, while the subsequent kernel write follows symlinks. An authenticated user could pla…
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High 8.7
zrok: WebDAV drive backend follows symlinks outside DriveRoot, enabling host filesystem read/write
zrok is software for sharing web services, files, and network resources. Prior to version 2.0.2, the zrok WebDAV drive backend (davServer.Dir) restricts path traversal through lexical normalization but does not prevent symlink following. When a symbolic link …
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High 7.0
IObit Advanced SystemCare Service ASC.exe symlink
A security flaw has been discovered in IObit Advanced SystemCare 19. This affects an unknown part of the file ASC.exe of the component Service. The manipulation results in symlink following. Attacking locally is a requirement. This attack is characterized by …
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High 8.1
OpenClaw < 2026.3.31 - Arbitrary File Write via Symlink Following in SSH Sandbox Tar Upload
OpenClaw before 2026.3.31 contains a symlink following vulnerability in SSH sandbox tar upload that allows remote attackers to write arbitrary files. Attackers can exploit this by uploading tar archives containing symlinks to escape the sandbox and overwrite …
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High 8.2
Kata Containers: CopyFile Policy Subversion via Symlinks
Kata Containers is an open source project focusing on a standard implementation of lightweight Virtual Machines (VMs) that perform like containers. From v3.4.0 to v3.28.0, an oversight in the CopyFile policy (and perhaps the CopyFile handler) allows untrusted…