Link following in Rsync - CVE-2026-53800
Published: August 13, 2026
Vulnerability details
The vulnerability allows a local user to cause a denial of service.
The vulnerability exists due to improper link resolution before file access in successful_send() when unlinking source files with --remove-source-files after a parent directory is raced from a real directory to a symlink outside the source tree. A local user can replace an attacker-controlled parent directory with a symlink to redirect the post-send unlink and cause a denial of service.
The issue is reachable when a higher-authority local sender operates on a tree containing an attacker-controlled component, and it may also be reachable through a daemon module if --remove-source-files is allowed.
Affected software
Debian Linux
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP6
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP5
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15 SP4
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server for SAP Applications 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing LTSS 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise High Performance Computing ESPOS 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Real Time 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 15
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro
SUSE Linux Enterprise Micro for Rancher
Basesystem Module
openSUSE Leap
openEuler
Fedora
rsync-debugsource
rsync-debuginfo
rsync
rsync-help
rsync (Debian package)
How to mitigate CVE-2026-53800
rsync-debugsource - addressed in versions 3.2.3-150400.3.34.1, 3.2.7-150600.3.24.1
rsync-debuginfo - addressed in versions 3.2.3-150400.3.34.1, 3.2.7-150600.3.24.1
rsync - addressed in versions 3.2.3-150400.3.34.1, 3.2.7-150600.3.24.1
rsync-debugsource - update to 3.2.7-12
rsync-help - update to 3.2.7-12
rsync-debuginfo - update to 3.2.7-12
rsync - update to 3.2.7-12
rsync (Debian package) - update to 3.5.0+ds1-0+deb13u1
rsync - addressed in versions 3.5.0-1.fc43, 3.5.0-1.fc44