RsyncProject rsync up to 3.4.x Destination Directory chdir toctou

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability classified as critical has been found in RsyncProject rsync up to 3.4.x. The impacted element is the function chdir of the component Destination Directory Handler. This manipulation causes toctou. This vulnerability is registered as CVE-2026-53796. Remote exploitation of the attack is possible. No exploit is available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability has been found in RsyncProject rsync up to 3.4.x and classified as critical. Affected by this vulnerability is the function chdir of the component Destination Directory Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a toctou vulnerability. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-367. The product checks the state of a resource before using that resource, but the resource's state can change between the check and the use in a way that invalidates the results of the check. This can cause the product to perform invalid actions when the resource is in an unexpected state. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a time-of-check to time-of-use (TOCTOU) race condition vulnerability in the non-daemon receiver's destination directory handling that allows an attacker who can manipulate destination path parent components to redirect file writes to unintended locations. Attackers can substitute a symlink for a component of the destination path between the path resolution and chdir() call, causing the receiver's working directory to be established outside the intended destination tree so that subsequent relative-path file writes land in unintended filesystem locations.

The advisory is shared at github.com. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2026-53796 since 06/10/2026. The exploitation appears to be easy. The attack can be launched remotely. The exploitation doesn't need any form of authentication. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available.

Upgrading to version 3.5.0 eliminates this vulnerability.

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Productinfo

Type

• File Transfer Software

Vendor

• RsyncProject

Name

• rsync

Version

• 3.0
• 3.1
• 3.2
• 3.3
• 3.4

Website

• Product: https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/

CPE 2.3info

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CPE 2.2info

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