CVE-2026-53801
Description
rsync before 3.5.0 contains a symlink race condition vulnerability in the sender's directory scanning logic that allows attackers to cause the sender to enumerate and transfer files outside the module root's intended subtree. Attackers who can create or manipulate symlinks in a path component of the scanned tree can replace a symlink with a directory entry pointing outside the module root between the lstat() call and the subsequent opendir() call, exposing files beyond the intended root in both daemon-mode and non-daemon sender-side scanning.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
Propose a mitigation on Community Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
OS impact
Debian Affected 5 releases
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| trixie | Affected | — |
| sid | Affected | — |
| forky | Affected | — |
| bullseye | Affected | — |
| bookworm | Affected | — |
SUSE Affected 1 release
| Version | Status | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
| — | Affected | — |
References
- https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-53801.html
- https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-53801
- https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0
- https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-mch3-qr4p-chgm
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-symlink-race-condition-directory-traversal
CWEs
CWE-59 CWE-367
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.