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Link following in MIME-tools

Priority LOW 32CWE-59Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
None
Attack complexity
High
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · High
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CISA ADP. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat.

Summary

MIME::Parser::FileUnder versions before 5.521 for Perl reuse a pre-created output directory and follow symlinks in it, letting local users redirect attachment writes. Each message is written to a directory named msg-<time>-<pid>-<n> under the output base, and an existing directory of that name is used as is. A file name counts as unused when nothing exists at that path, which holds for a dangling symlink, and the body file is then opened in a way that follows the link. When the output base is writable by other users, as with output_under("/tmp"), a local user can pre-create the directory with a symlink named like an attachment. The parser then writes the attachment to the link target with the privileges of the parsing process.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00131 2nd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial MIME-tools: 5.521Red Hat: 1 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
—MIME-toolsbefore 5.5215.521Patch availableCNA
  • MIME-tools Vendor— Affected before 5.521 Fixed in 5.521 Patch available CNA

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA MIME-tools Fixed in 5.521

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6AffectedNo fix planned: Out of support scope

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-28 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-116271
  2. 2026-10-28 Alias added: GHSA-x3mf-3f47-pgpf
  3. 2026-10-30 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
  4. 2026-10-30 CVSS score added · Red Hat
  5. 2026-11-05 CVSS score added · CISA ADP
  6. 2026-11-05 CISA SSVC decision points changed

References

Sources