vulnerability / NVI-00017556 / Revision 1
install -D: symlink race in directory creation allows arbitrary file overwrite
GitHub lists this reviewed advisory for uu_install. Published version ranges and source prerequisites are shown below; this is not an inspection of a visitor’s application.
This report has not inspected your inventory, configuration, deployed build, reachability or evidence. A catalog listing and a severity score do not establish exposure or compromise.
01 / Meaning
Why it matters
Published affected context helps an owner decide what evidence to gather. This report has not examined your application.
6.3 medium
GitHub source severity; exploitability and local consequence require separate evidence.
As of · GitHub Advisory Database
02 / Applicability
The affected context
Affected versions, configuration prerequisites and known exclusions are public. Confirm each one against the deployed service.
uu_install
source listed< 0.7.0
The `-D` path runs `fs::create_dir_all` on a pathname then later opens the destination via path-based `File::create`/`fs::copy`, neither anchored to a directory fd. Between the two, an attacker can replace a path component with a symlink, redirecting the write. **Impact:** an attacker with concurrent write access to the destination tree can redirect a privileged `install -D` to an arbitrary location, enabling arbitrary file overwrite with attacker-controlled content. Recommendation: use dirfd-based traversal (`openat`/`mkdirat` + `O_NOFOLLOW`) per component and create the destination via `openat` on the same dirfd. **Remediation:** Acknowledged by Canonical; fixed in commit 0c412999. --- _Reported by Zellic in the *uutils coreutils Program Security Assessment* (prepared for Canonical, Jan 20 2026), audited commit `3a07ffc5a9bd4c283e75afa548ba1f1957bad242`. Finding 3.51. Credit: Zellic._
03 / Response
What to do next
- investigate
Identify the exact component and deployed version, examine the linked publisher’s conditions, and retain evidence of any mitigation.
Confirm current vendor support, compatibility and deployment evidence. This report has not tested a fix in your system. GitHub Advisory Database
A fixed release is not deployment evidence.
Check current vendor support and compatibility. After making a change, verify the deployed build and relevant runtime conditions. Keep the evidence, owner and time. An updated lockfile alone does not prove what is running.
04 / Limits
What this report cannot establish
- Customer inventory, deployment, reachability and exploitation have not been inspected.
05 / Provenance
Sources you can inspect
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- GHSA-gwm6-q8ch-hcfr ↗
GitHub Advisory Database · vendor advisory
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Public revision history
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- Revision 1 ·
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