uutils coreutils mv Security Xattr TOCTOU Race in Cross-Device
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- None · High · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and GitHub.
Summary
A Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability exists in the mv utility of uutils coreutils during cross-device moves. The extended attribute (xattr) preservation logic uses multiple path-based system calls that perform fresh path-to-inode lookups for each operation. A local attacker with write access to the directory can exploit this race to swap files between calls, causing the destination file to receive an inconsistent mix of security xattrs, such as SELinux labels or file capabilities.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- 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-x4mc-mqm7-gg39 |
- 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-x4mc-mqm7-gg39
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Vendor assessments
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-35354
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-x4mc-mqm7-gg39
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-2026-27488 uutils coreutils cp Unexpected Privileged Executable Creation with -p CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.6
- 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
Sources
- CVE-2026-35354 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-35354 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-x4mc-mqm7-gg39 · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-35354 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences