A vulnerability in the rm utility of uutils coreutils allows a bypass of the --preserve-root protection. The implementation uses a path-string check rather than comparing device and inode numbers to identify the root directory. An attacker or accidental user can bypass this safeguard by using a symbolic link that resolves to the root directory (e.g., /tmp/rootlink -> /), potentially leading to the unintended recursive deletion of the entire root filesystem.

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History

Wed, 22 Apr 2026 16:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description A vulnerability in the rm utility of uutils coreutils allows a bypass of the --preserve-root protection. The implementation uses a path-string check rather than comparing device and inode numbers to identify the root directory. An attacker or accidental user can bypass this safeguard by using a symbolic link that resolves to the root directory (e.g., /tmp/rootlink -> /), potentially leading to the unintended recursive deletion of the entire root filesystem.
Title uutils coreutils Path-Based Safety Bypass with --preserve-root
Weaknesses CWE-59
References
Metrics cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.7, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H'}


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cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: canonical

Published:

Updated: 2026-04-22T16:07:59.808Z

Reserved: 2026-04-02T12:58:56.087Z

Link: CVE-2026-35349

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Received

Published: 2026-04-22T17:16:37.190

Modified: 2026-04-22T17:16:37.190

Link: CVE-2026-35349

cve-icon Redhat

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cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

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Weaknesses