uutils coreutils allows unauthorized modification of permissions on existing files
High severity
GitHub Reviewed
Published
Apr 22, 2026
to the GitHub Advisory Database
•
Updated Apr 29, 2026
Description
Published by the National Vulnerability Database
Apr 22, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database
Apr 22, 2026
Reviewed
Apr 29, 2026
Last updated
Apr 29, 2026
A vulnerability in uutils coreutils mkfifo allows for the unauthorized modification of permissions on existing files. When mkfifo fails to create a FIFO because a file already exists at the target path, it fails to terminate the operation for that path and continues to execute a follow-up set_permissions call. This results in the existing file's permissions being changed to the default mode (often 644 after umask), potentially exposing sensitive files such as SSH private keys to other users on the system.
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