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NVD / CVE Program· CNA VulnCheck

CVE-2026-53801: rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition Directory Traversal

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 32/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.28% (FIRST EPSS).
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.
  • Fixed version: rsync (Alpine:v3.21) 3.5.0-r0; rsync (Debian:13) 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1; rsync (Debian:14) 3.5.0+ds1-1.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to rsync (Alpine:v3.21) 3.5.0-r0; rsync (Debian:13) 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1; rsync (Debian:14) 3.5.0+ds1-1 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability in the sender's directory scanning logic that allows attackers to cause the sender to enumerate and transfer files outside the module root's intended subtree. Attackers who can create or manipulate symlinks in a path component of the scanned tree can replace a symlink with a directory entry pointing outside the module root between the lstat() call and the subsequent opendir() call, exposing files beyond the intended root in both daemon-mode and non-daemon sender-side scanning.

HighCVSS 8.2 · v4.0—No exploit Fix available
Published
Aug 13, 2026
Updated
Oct 24, 2026
EPSS
0.2% · 21th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

32

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
32 / 40 · 8.2 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.2%

CISA SSVC decision

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial

Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
—
CNA · VulnCheck
8.2
NVD has not scored this yet; the score shown is the CNA’s.

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

Get told when this record changes

  • Not in KEV: no record of exploitation in the wild
  • No public exploit code on record
  • A fix has been released

If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

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Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
sambarsync

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • samba rsyncbefore 3.5.0

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (VulnCheck). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • RsyncProject rsync

    • 3.5.0not affected
    • up to and including 3.4.4affected · semver

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Alpine:v3.21rsyncbefore 3.5.0-r03.5.0-r0
Debian:12rsyncfrom 0—
Debian:13rsyncbefore 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u13.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1
Debian:14rsyncbefore 3.5.0+ds1-13.5.0+ds1-1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Micro 5.3rsyncbefore 3.2.3-150400.3.34.13.2.3-150400.3.34.1
SUSE:Linux Enterprise Module for Basesystem 15 SP7rsyncbefore 3.2.7-150600.3.24.13.2.7-150600.3.24.1
SUSE:Linux Micro 6.1rsyncbefore 3.3.0-slfo.1.1_7.13.3.0-slfo.1.1_7.1

Same product

samba: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2024-12084Rsync: heap buffer overflow in rsync due to improper checksum length handling
    61This week
  • CVE-2017-16548The receive_xattr function in xattrs.c in rsync 3.1.2 and 3.1.3-development does not check for a trailing '\0' character in an xattr name, w
    41Plan
  • CVE-2017-17434The daemon in rsync 3.1.2, and 3.1.3-development before 2017-12-03, does not check for fnamecmp filenames in the daemon_filter_list data str
    40Plan

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-53799Aug 13, 2026 · rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition via ACL/xattr Application
    28Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2026-53800Aug 13, 2026 · rsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition via --remove-source-files
    22Monitor
  • Later →CVE-2026-53802Aug 13, 2026 · rsync < 3.5.0 Arbitrary File Read via Symlink Following
    33Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
alpine:rsync3.5.0-r0 · Alpine:v3.21Package registry (OSV)
debian:rsync3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1 · Debian:13Package registry (OSV)
suse:rsync3.3.0-slfo.1.1_7.1 · SUSE:Linux Micro 6.1Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

EPSS, last 120 days

FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

No credits in the CNA record.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

  • CVE-2026-538030 days apartrsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Following Arbitrary File Overwrite
    34Monitor
  • CVE-2026-537840 days apartrsync < 3.5.0 Path Traversal via Symlink Module Root
    33Monitor
  • CVE-2026-537950 days apartrsync < 3.5.0 Arbitrary File Write via --temp-dir/--link-dest
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2026-537990 days apartrsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition via ACL/xattr Application
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2026-4361986 days apartRsync < 3.4.3 Symlink Race Condition via Path-Based Syscalls
    28Monitor
  • CVE-2026-538000 days apartrsync < 3.5.0 Symlink Race Condition via --remove-source-files
    22Monitor

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

No known public program.

Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • No account or password is required.
  • No user action is required.
  • Special conditions such as timing or configuration are required.

If successful

Confidentiality
Integrity
Availability
Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
High
Privileges required
None
User interaction
None
Scope
X

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-59 · Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')

CVSS vector

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:H/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:N/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X

nvd-secondary

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (2 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records