GNU nano creates the user’s ~/.local directory with overly permissive permissions when the directory does not exist yet. On first use of features requiring Cross-Desktop Group (XDG) data storage, nano explicitly requests directory mode 0777, making the directory world‑writable in environments where the process umask does not sufficiently restrict permissions.
In systems with a relaxed or zero umask, such as container environments, CI/CD runners, embedded systems, or user shells configured with umask 000, this results in ~/.local being created as world‑writable. A local attacker can exploit a race window between nano’s creation of ~/.local and its subsequent creation of more restrictive subdirectories to write attacker‑controlled files into the victim’s XDG directory hierarchy.
This problem was fixed in nano version 9.0
In systems with a relaxed or zero umask, such as container environments, CI/CD runners, embedded systems, or user shells configured with umask 000, this results in ~/.local being created as world‑writable. A local attacker can exploit a race window between nano’s creation of ~/.local and its subsequent creation of more restrictive subdirectories to write attacker‑controlled files into the victim’s XDG directory hierarchy.
This problem was fixed in nano version 9.0
Advisories
No advisories yet.
Fixes
Solution
No solution given by the vendor.
Workaround
No workaround given by the vendor.
References
History
Tue, 28 Apr 2026 16:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Gnu
Gnu nano |
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| Vendors & Products |
Gnu
Gnu nano |
Tue, 28 Apr 2026 14:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | GNU nano creates the user’s ~/.local directory with overly permissive permissions when the directory does not exist yet. On first use of features requiring Cross-Desktop Group (XDG) data storage, nano explicitly requests directory mode 0777, making the directory world‑writable in environments where the process umask does not sufficiently restrict permissions. In systems with a relaxed or zero umask, such as container environments, CI/CD runners, embedded systems, or user shells configured with umask 000, this results in ~/.local being created as world‑writable. A local attacker can exploit a race window between nano’s creation of ~/.local and its subsequent creation of more restrictive subdirectories to write attacker‑controlled files into the victim’s XDG directory hierarchy. This problem was fixed in nano version 9.0 | |
| Title | Insecure Directory Permissions in GNU nano Leading to Privilege Abuse | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-732 | |
| References |
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| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
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Projects
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Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: CERT-PL
Published:
Updated: 2026-04-28T14:28:55.143Z
Reserved: 2026-04-14T09:44:32.553Z
Link: CVE-2026-40556
No data.
Status : Received
Published: 2026-04-28T15:16:30.150
Modified: 2026-04-28T15:16:30.150
Link: CVE-2026-40556
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-04-28T16:00:12Z
Weaknesses