UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53803 (CVE-2026-53803)

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu – Published: 2026-08-13 15:19 – Updated: 2026-08-19 11:06 – Source website
VLAI
Details

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink following vulnerability that allows local attackers to overwrite arbitrary files by placing a symlink at a predictable output path such as --log-file, --write-batch, or daemon-mode log and statistics paths. Attackers can exploit rsync's failure to reject symlinks during ancillary file writes to redirect output to arbitrary filesystem locations, achieving local privilege escalation on installations where rsync runs with elevated privileges such as setuid or privileged daemon configurations.

Severity
7.8 (High)
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.5 (High)
CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
N/A (UNKNOWN)
medium
References
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4+esm4"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4+esm4?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra-legacy/trusty"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.0.9-4ubuntu1",
        "3.1.0-2",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.1",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.2",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.3",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4+esm1",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4+esm2",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4+esm3",
        "3.1.0-2ubuntu0.4+esm4"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm6"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm6?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra-legacy/xenial"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.1.1-3",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.1",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.2",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm1",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm2",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm3",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm4",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm5",
        "3.1.1-3ubuntu1.3+esm6"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6+esm4"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6+esm4?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra/bionic"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.1.2-2",
        "3.1.2-2.1",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.1",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.2",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.3",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.4",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.5",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6+esm1",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6+esm2",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6+esm3",
        "3.1.2-2.1ubuntu1.6+esm4"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.9+esm2"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.1.3-8ubuntu0.9+esm2?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra/focal"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.1.3-6",
        "3.1.3-8",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.1",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.2",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.3",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.4",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.5",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.7",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.8",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.9",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.9+esm1",
        "3.1.3-8ubuntu0.9+esm2"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.7"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:22.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.7?arch=source\u0026distro=jammy"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.2.3-4ubuntu1",
        "3.2.3-4ubuntu2",
        "3.2.3-8ubuntu1",
        "3.2.3-8ubuntu2",
        "3.2.3-8ubuntu3",
        "3.2.3-8ubuntu3.1",
        "3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.2",
        "3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.3",
        "3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.4",
        "3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.6",
        "3.2.7-0ubuntu0.22.04.7"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.2.7-1ubuntu1.5"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:24.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.2.7-1ubuntu1.5?arch=source\u0026distro=noble"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.2.7-1",
        "3.2.7-1build1",
        "3.2.7-1build2",
        "3.2.7-1ubuntu1",
        "3.2.7-1ubuntu1.1",
        "3.2.7-1ubuntu1.2",
        "3.2.7-1ubuntu1.4",
        "3.2.7-1ubuntu1.5"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "rsync",
            "binary_version": "3.4.1+ds1-7ubuntu0.3"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:26.04:LTS",
        "name": "rsync",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/rsync@3.4.1+ds1-7ubuntu0.3?arch=source\u0026distro=resolute"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "3.4.1+ds1-5ubuntu1",
        "3.4.1+ds1-6",
        "3.4.1+ds1-7",
        "3.4.1+ds1-7ubuntu0.2",
        "3.4.1+ds1-7ubuntu0.3"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink following vulnerability that allows local attackers to overwrite arbitrary files by placing a symlink at a predictable output path such as --log-file, --write-batch, or daemon-mode log and statistics paths. Attackers can exploit rsync\u0027s failure to reject symlinks during ancillary file writes to redirect output to arbitrary filesystem locations, achieving local privilege escalation on installations where rsync runs with elevated privileges such as setuid or privileged daemon configurations.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2026-53803",
  "modified": "2026-08-19T11:06:28Z",
  "published": "2026-08-13T15:19:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-53803"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53803"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://download.samba.org/pub/rsync/NEWS#3.5.0"
    }
  ],
  "related": [],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V4"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2026-53803"
  ]
}



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