uutils coreutils Path-Based Safety Bypass with --preserve-root
A vulnerability in the rm utility of uutils coreutils allows a bypass of the --preserve-root protection. The implementation uses a path-string check rather than comparing device and inode numbers to identify the root directory. An attacker or accidental user can bypass this safeguard by using a symbolic link that resolves to the root directory (e.g., /tmp/rootlink -> /), potentially leading to the unintended recursive deletion of the entire root filesystem.
- Products
- Not specified
- Affected versions
- Not specified
- Fixed versions
- Not specified
- CVEs
- CVE-2026-35349
- Confirmed fixed CVEs
- Not specified
- Updated in this feed
- 3 Nov 2026, 16:11 UTC · Revision 1
Source evidence
uutils coreutils Path-Based Safety Bypass with --preserve-root
core-osv · Original sourcePublished 22 Apr 2026, 16:07 UTC
A vulnerability in the rm utility of uutils coreutils allows a bypass of the --preserve-root protection. The implementation uses a path-string check rather than comparing device and inode numbers to identify the root directory. An attacker or accidental user can bypass this safeguard by using a symbolic link that resolves to the root directory (e.g., /tmp/rootlink -> /), potentially leading to the unintended recursive deletion of the entire root filesystem.
osv:CVE-2026-35349
Complete source record
{
"id": "323f1b53e9250ba2b8f35f9fb8a48da232125f5672367e36bbf2d0c3c0b824e0",
"url": "https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-35349",
"method": "structured",
"payload": {
"kind": "advisory",
"title": "uutils coreutils Path-Based Safety Bypass with --preserve-root",
"summary": "A vulnerability in the rm utility of uutils coreutils allows a bypass of the --preserve-root protection. The implementation uses a path-string check rather than comparing device and inode numbers to identify the root directory. An attacker or accidental user can bypass this safeguard by using a symbolic link that resolves to the root directory (e.g., /tmp/rootlink -> /), potentially leading to the unintended recursive deletion of the entire root filesystem.",
"evidence": "osv:CVE-2026-35349",
"products": [],
"severity": "medium",
"structured": {
"id": "CVE-2026-35349",
"aliases": [
"CVE-2026-35349",
"GHSA-7cr3-h577-g38j"
],
"metrics": [
{
"type": "CVSS_V3",
"score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H"
}
],
"affected": [
{
"ranges": [
{
"repo": "https://github.com/uutils/coreutils",
"type": "GIT",
"events": [
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},
{
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"database_specific": {
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{
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"source": "AFFECTED_FIELD",
"strategy": "StandardRange"
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{
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"source": "REFERENCES_TAG",
"original_tag": "0.7.0"
},
{
"cpe": "cpe:2.3:a:uutils:coreutils:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*",
"range": [
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},
{
"fixed": "0.7.0"
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"source": "CPE_RANGE"
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],
"versions": [
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"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",
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],
"database_specific": {
"source": "https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-35349.json"
}
}
],
"modified": "2026-10-28T02:30:30.425528094Z",
"provider": "osv",
"references": [
"https://github.com/uutils",
"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/35xxx/CVE-2026-35349.json",
"https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.7.0",
"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35349",
"https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/9706",
"https://github.com/uutils/coreutils"
],
"provider_metadata": {
"cwe_ids": [
"CWE-59"
],
"cna_assigner": "canonical",
"osv_generated_from": "https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/35xxx/CVE-2026-35349.json"
}
},
"related_cves": [
{
"value": "CVE-2026-35349",
"evidence": "/id"
}
],
"security_relevant": true,
"severity_evidence": "/severity/0/score"
},
"source_id": "core-osv",
"document_id": 497180,
"published_at": "2026-04-22T16:07:59.808+00:00"
}