GHSA-r9hw-mj3w-phcq is a low-severity (CVSS 3.4) CWE-281 vulnerability in uu_mknod. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-r9hw-mj3w-phcq is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
mknod: Device nodes created mislabeled on SELinux, with broken cleanup (remove_dir on a node)
Real-World Exposure
uu_mknodReal-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
uutils calls mknod before setting the SELinux context (GNU uses setfscreatecon first, labeling atomically). If set_selinux_security_context fails, cleanup uses std::fs::remove_dir, which cannot remove device nodes or FIFOs, leaving the mislabeled node behind.
Impact: on SELinux-enforcing systems the node is created with the wrong context; the command reports failure but leaves a mislabeled device node that may bypass mandatory access control, and orphaned nodes can persist across reboots. Recommendation: use setfscreatecon before mknod, abort on failure, and use remove_file for cleanup.
Remediation: Acknowledged by Canonical.
Reported by Zellic in the uutils coreutils Program Security Assessment (prepared for Canonical, Jan 20 2026), audited commit 3a07ffc5a9bd4c283e75afa548ba1f1957bad242. Finding 3.58. Credit: Zellic.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | uu_mknod | all versions | 0.6.0 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for uu_mknod. 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_mknod to 0.6.0 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-r9hw-mj3w-phcq 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-r9hw-mj3w-phcq 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-r9hw-mj3w-phcq. 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-r9hw-mj3w-phcq in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-r9hw-mj3w-phcq 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.