uutils coreutils cp Unexpected Privileged Executable Creation with -p
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · High · Low
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
The cp utility in uutils coreutils fails to properly handle setuid and setgid bits when ownership preservation fails. When copying with the -p (preserve) flag, the utility applies the source mode bits even if the chown operation is unsuccessful. This can result in a user-owned copy retaining original privileged bits, creating unexpected privileged executables that violate local security policies. This differs from GNU cp, which clears these bits when ownership cannot be preserved.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Uutils | coreutils | — | — | No fix listed | CNA |
| — | coreutils (crates.io) | up to 0.8.0 | — | No fix listed | GHSA-x2wv-9p67-mh9w |
- coreutils VendorUutils Affected — Fixed in — No fix listed CNA
- coreutils (crates.io) Vendor— Affected up to 0.8.0 Fixed in — No fix listed GHSA-x2wv-9p67-mh9w
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-35350
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x2wv-9p67-mh9w
References
More Uutils Coreutils vulnerabilities
- TI-2026-27506 uutils coreutils chroot Local Privilege Escalation and chroot Escape in via Name Service Switch (NSS) Injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.2
- TI-2026-27498 uutils coreutils touch Arbitrary File Truncation via TOCTOU Race Condition CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-27502 uutils coreutils mv Arbitrary File Overwrite via Cross-Device TOCTOU Race Condition CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-27493 uutils coreutils install Arbitrary File Overwrite via Symlink TOCTOU Race CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.3
- TI-2026-27511 uutils coreutils ln Local Denial of Service via Improper Handling of Non-UTF-8 Filenames CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
- TI-2026-27486 uutils coreutils sort Local Denial of Service via Forced UTF-8 Parsing CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
Sources
- CVE-2026-35350 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-35350 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-x2wv-9p67-mh9w · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-35350 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
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