High
rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Following Arbitrary File Overwrite
Type: advisorySources: OSV
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.
- Products
- Not specified
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-53803
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 4 Nov 2026, 15:57 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Following Arbitrary File Overwrite
core-osv · Original sourcePublished 13 Aug 2026, 14:33 UTC
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.
osv:CVE-2026-53803
Complete source record
{
"id": "ece698ea42676bdc800b0fc3d0275211a1175a16217766d48633f58d0c012bae",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-53803",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Following Arbitrary File Overwrite",
"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.",
"evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-53803",
"products": [],
"severity": "high",
"structured": {
"id": "CVE-2026-53803",
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-53803",
"GHSA-g9f4-7q66-9582"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V4",
"score": "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"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"repo": "https://git.samba.org/rsync.git/",
"type": "GIT",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "471e17dc0d68233db84db11be82c9f62f4661214"
}
],
"database_specific": {
"extracted_events": [
{
"cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:samba:rsync:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"range": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.5.0"
}
],
"source": "CPE_RANGE"
}
]
}
},
{
"repo": "https://github.com/rsyncproject/rsync",
"type": "GIT",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "471e17dc0d68233db84db11be82c9f62f4661214"
}
],
"database_specific": {
"extracted_events": [
{
"cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:samba:rsync:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*",
"range": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "3.5.0"
}
],
"source": "CPE_RANGE"
},
{
"range": [
{
"fixed": "471e17dc0d68233db84db11be82c9f62f4661214"
}
],
"source": "REFERENCES_TAG",
"original_tag": "v3.5.0"
}
]
}
}
],
"versions": [
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"v3.4",
"v3.2.7",
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"v3.4.2",
"v3.4.0",
"v3.3.0",
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"v3.2.4pre2",
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"v3.2.0pre2",
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"v3.1.0",
"v3.1.0pre1",
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"v3.0.1",
"v3.0.1pre3",
"v3.0.1pre2",
"v3.0.1pre1",
"v3.0.0",
"v3.0.0pre10",
"v3.0.0pre9",
"v3.0.0pre8",
"v3.0.0pre7",
"v3.0.0pre6",
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"v3.0.0pre4",
"v3.0.0pre3",
"v3.0.0pre2",
"v3.0.0pre1",
"v2.6.9",
"v2.6.9pre3",
"v2.6.9pre2",
"v2.6.9pre1",
"v2.6.8",
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"v2.6.4pre2",
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"v2.6.3",
"v2.6.3pre2",
"v2.6.3pre1",
"v2.6.2",
"v2.6.2pre1",
"v2.6.1",
"v2.6.1pre2",
"v2.6.1pre1",
"v2.6.0",
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"v2.5.6",
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"v2.5.1pre2",
"v2.5.1pre1",
"v2.5.0",
"v2.4.7pre4",
"v2.4.7pre2",
"mbp_bk_export0",
"v2.4.6",
"v2.4.5",
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"v2.4.3",
"v2.4.2",
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"v2.4.0",
"v2.3.2",
"v2.3.1",
"v2.3.0",
"v2.2.1",
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"v2.0.1",
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"v1.7.3",
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"v1.7.1",
"v1.7.0",
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"v1.6.8",
"v1.6.7",
"v1.6.6",
"v1.6.5",
"v1.6.4"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-53803.json"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:36.907147897Z",
"provider": "osv",
"references": [
"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/53xxx/CVE-2026-53803.json",
"https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0",
"https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-g9f4-7q66-9582",
"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53803",
"https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-symlink-following-arbitrary-file-overwrite",
"https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync"
],
"provider_metadata": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-59"
],
"cna_assigner": "VulnCheck",
"osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/53xxx/CVE-2026-53803.json"
}
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2026-53803",
"evidence": "/id"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 504372,
"published_at": "2026-08-13T14:33:18.552+00:00"
}