CVE-2026-35372 is a medium-severity (CVSS 5) CWE-61 vulnerability in coreutils. A fix is available for coreutils — see the affected versions and patch details below.
uutils coreutils ln Security Bypass via Improper Handling of the --no-dereference Flag
Exploitation Status
No confirmed exploitation observed yet
- CISA’s own triage has not observed active exploitation or public proof-of-concept code for this CVE as of its last assessment.
Exploitation and automatability from CISA’s SSVC triage for CVE-2026-35372.
EPSS Exploitation Probability
Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, from FIRST.org EPSS.
How urgent is this, really
Where this sits among everything scored
Real-World Exposure
coreutilsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
A logic error in the ln utility of uutils coreutils allows the utility to dereference a symbolic link target even when the --no-dereference (or -n) flag is explicitly provided. The implementation previously only honored the "no-dereference" intent if the --force (overwrite) mode was also enabled. This flaw causes ln to follow a symbolic link that points to a directory and create new links inside that target directory instead of treating the symbolic link itself as the destination. In environments where a privileged user or system script uses ln -n to update a symlink, a local attacker could manipulate existing symbolic links to redirect file creation into sensitive directories, potentially leading to unauthorized file creation or system misconfiguration.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | coreutils | all versions | 0.8.0cargo update -p coreutils --precise 0.8.0 |
Affected Products
coreutilsuutilsDetection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for coreutils, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update coreutils to 0.8.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms CVE-2026-35372 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is CVE-2026-35372 in your dependencies?
Find it across crates.io, including transitive dependencies.