CVE-2026-35339 | uutils coreutils chmod False Success Exit Code in Recursive Mode

The recursive mode (-R) of the chmod utility in uutils coreutils incorrectly handles exit codes when processing multiple files. The final return value is determined solely by the success or failure of the last file processed. This allows the command to return an exit code of 0 (success) even if errors were encountered on previous files, such as 'Operation not permitted'. Scripts relying on these exit codes may proceed under a false sense of success while sensitive files remain with restrictive or incorrect permissions.

Published: 2026-04-22 Last update: 2026-05-04 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-35339 is rated Low Risk (22.4/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.01%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-35339

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-23 0.01%

Full EPSS history (1 record total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-35339

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
5.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:L)
They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
1.8 3.6 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-35339

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-35339

GHSA-vp6q-mv9j-j428 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: rust — uutils coreutils incorrectly handles exit codes when processing multiple files

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-35339

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-35339 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (rust-coreutils), 3 status rows across 3 suites (bookworm, sid, trixie): open 2, resolved 1. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-35339
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-35339 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (rust-coreutils), 5 status rows across 5 suites (jammy, noble, questing, resolute, upstream): needed 2, DNE 1, not-affected 1, released 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-35339

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-35339

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
uutils coreutils < 0.6.0 cpe:2.3:a:uutils:coreutils:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*

References for CVE-2026-35339

cvelogic Threat Intelligence