uutils coreutils chmod False Success Exit Code in Recursive Mode
The recursive mode (-R) of the chmod utility in uutils coreutils incorrectly handles exit codes when processing multiple files. The final return value is determined solely by the success or failure of the last file processed. This allows the command to return an exit code of 0 (success) even if errors were encountered on previous files, such as 'Operation not permitted'. Scripts relying on these exit codes may proceed under a false sense of success while sensitive files remain with restrictive or incorrect permissions.
- Products
- Not specified
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-35339
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 6 Nov 2026, 00:02 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
uutils coreutils chmod False Success Exit Code in Recursive Mode
core-osv · Original sourcePublished 22 Apr 2026, 16:07 UTC
The recursive mode (-R) of the chmod utility in uutils coreutils incorrectly handles exit codes when processing multiple files. The final return value is determined solely by the success or failure of the last file processed. This allows the command to return an exit code of 0 (success) even if errors were encountered on previous files, such as 'Operation not permitted'. Scripts relying on these exit codes may proceed under a false sense of success while sensitive files remain with restrictive or incorrect permissions.
osv:CVE-2026-35339
Complete source record
{
"id": "d7c69d8b090d64f1457dd198e54286c83a2ed3a102f77bc517089c79c206aad2",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-35339",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "uutils coreutils chmod False Success Exit Code in Recursive Mode",
"summary": "The recursive mode (-R) of the chmod utility in uutils coreutils incorrectly handles exit codes when processing multiple files. The final return value is determined solely by the success or failure of the last file processed. This allows the command to return an exit code of 0 (success) even if errors were encountered on previous files, such as 'Operation not permitted'. Scripts relying on these exit codes may proceed under a false sense of success while sensitive files remain with restrictive or incorrect permissions.",
"evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-35339",
"products": [],
"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
"id": "CVE-2026-35339",
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-35339",
"GHSA-4x34-chg5-mwjj"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"repo": "https://github.com/uutils/coreutils",
"type": "GIT",
"events": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "2319a99057d11b0c9744c885df84806eea019166"
}
],
"database_specific": {
"extracted_events": [
{
"range": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.6.0"
}
],
"source": "AFFECTED_FIELD",
"strategy": "StandardRange"
},
{
"range": [
{
"fixed": "2319a99057d11b0c9744c885df84806eea019166"
}
],
"source": "REFERENCES_TAG",
"original_tag": "0.6.0"
},
{
"cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:uutils:coreutils:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*",
"range": [
{
"introduced": "0"
},
{
"fixed": "0.6.0"
}
],
"source": "CPE_RANGE"
}
]
}
}
],
"versions": [
"latest-commit",
"0.5.0",
"0.4.0",
"0.3.0",
"0.2.2",
"0.2.0",
"0.1.0",
"0.0.30-delete",
"0.0.30",
"0.0.29",
"0.0.28",
"0.0.27",
"0.0.26",
"0.0.25",
"0.0.24",
"0.0.23",
"0.0.22",
"0.0.21",
"0.0.20",
"0.0.19",
"0.0.18",
"0.0.17",
"0.0.16",
"0.0.15",
"0.0.14",
"0.0.13",
"0.0.12",
"0.0.9",
"0.0.8",
"0.0.7",
"0.0.6",
"0.0.5",
"0.0.3",
"0.0.2",
"0.0.1"
],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-35339.json"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:45.325392869Z",
"provider": "osv",
"references": [
"https://github.com/uutils",
"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/35xxx/CVE-2026-35339.json",
"https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.6.0",
"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35339",
"https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/9793",
"https://github.com/uutils/coreutils"
],
"provider_metadata": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-253"
],
"cna_assigner": "canonical",
"osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/35xxx/CVE-2026-35339.json"
}
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2026-35339",
"evidence": "/id"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 513299,
"published_at": "2026-04-22T16:07:33.703+00:00"
}