Missing Authentication for Critical Function in rclone - CVE-2026-49980
Published: June 8, 2026
Vulnerability identifier: #VU133467
CSH Severity: High
CVSS v4: 9.3 [CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N]
CVE-ID: CVE-2026-49980
CWE-ID: CWE-306
Exploitation vector: Remote access
Exploit availability:
No public exploit available
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to execute arbitrary commands.
The vulnerability exists due to missing authentication for a critical function in the rclone remote control file-serving handler when handling unauthenticated GET or HEAD requests to /[remote:path]/object paths with inline remote instantiation. A remote attacker can send a specially crafted request to execute arbitrary commands.
Exploitation requires the remote control API to be enabled and reachable, the --rc-serve flag to be in use, and global RC HTTP authentication to be absent.
Affected software
rclone
Ubuntu
rclone (Ubuntu package)
Ubuntu
rclone (Ubuntu package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-49980
Install security update from vendor's website.
rclone - update to 1.74.3
rclone (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.53.3-4ubuntu1.22.04.5, 1.60.1+dfsg-3ubuntu0.24.04.6, 1.60.1+dfsg-4ubuntu3.2
rclone (Ubuntu package) - addressed in versions 1.53.3-4ubuntu1.22.04.5, 1.60.1+dfsg-3ubuntu0.24.04.6, 1.60.1+dfsg-4ubuntu3.2