GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh is a medium-severity (CVSS 6.6) CWE-59 vulnerability in uu_mv. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
mv: symlinks expanded during cross-device move (resource exhaustion / data duplication)
Real-World Exposure
uu_mvReal-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
When moving directories across filesystems, uutils mv dereferences symlinks inside the tree, copying their targets as real files/dirs instead of preserving the symlinks. GNU preserves symlinks by default. E.g. a etc_link -> /etc inside the source becomes a full copy of /etc at the destination.
Impact: (1) resource exhaustion — a small tree can expand into a huge copy (time/disk DoS); (2) unintended duplication of sensitive paths referenced by symlink; (3) symlink-loop amplification causing deep recursion. Recommendation: in cross-device fallback, detect symlinks via symlink_metadata() and recreate with read_link()/symlink(); add loop detection.
Remediation: Acknowledged by Canonical; fixed in commit 9654e4ab.
Reported by Zellic in the uutils coreutils Program Security Assessment (prepared for Canonical, Jan 20 2026), audited commit 3a07ffc5a9bd4c283e75afa548ba1f1957bad242. Finding 3.63. Credit: Zellic.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | uu_mv | all versions | 0.7.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for uu_mv. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update uu_mv to 0.7.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh 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.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-h444-6j9x-p8vh across crates.io dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.