Medium severity · published Aug 13, 2026
CVE-2026-53796
rsync < 3.5.0 TOCTOU Race Condition via Destination Directory Handling
6.3
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
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.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 3% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
RS
rsync · RsyncProject
through 3.4.4 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-53796
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-53796
github.com
https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0
github.com
https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-w75h-ccff-w53m
www.vulncheck.com
https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-toctou-race-condition-via-destination-directory-handling
More from rsync
9.1
CVE-2026-53791
rsync < 3.5.0 Daemon IP Spoofing via PROXY Protocol Header
8.2
CVE-2026-70456
rsync 3.0.1 < 3.5.0 Heap Out-of-Bounds Write via read_args()
8.2
CVE-2026-70457
rsync 3.2.3 < 3.5.0 Out-of-Bounds Write via parse_size_arg()
8.2
CVE-2026-70458
rsync 3.0.0 < 3.5.0 Out-of-Bounds Write via FLAG_HLINKED Handling
8.2
CVE-2026-70461
rsync 3.2.5 < 3.5.0 Heap Out-of-Bounds Write via files-from Entry
