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.
Problem types
CWE-59: Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
Product status
Any version before 0.7.0
Credits
Zellic
References
github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/9706
github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.7.0