CVE-2026-35376 | uutils coreutils chcon Security Bypass and Mandatory Access Control (MAC) Inconsistency via TOCTOU Race Condition

A Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) vulnerability exists in the chcon utility of uutils coreutils during recursive operations. The implementation resolves recursive targets using a fresh path lookup (via fts_accpath) rather than binding the traversal and label application to the specific directory state encountered during traversal. Because these operations are not anchored to file descriptors, a local attacker with write access to a directory tree can exploit timing-sensitive rename or symbolic link races to redirect a privileged recursive relabeling operation to unintended files or directories. This vulnerability breaks the hardening expectations for SELinux administration workflows and can lead to the unauthorized modification of security labels on sensitive system objects.

Published: 2026-04-22 Last update: 2026-05-04 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Analyzed，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-35376 is rated Low Risk (18.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.09%). Low composite risk—no urgent action required; patch on your normal maintenance cycle and revisit priority if CVSS or EPSS increases.

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-2026-35376

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 2026-06-15 0.01% 0.09% +0.08%
2 2026-04-23 — 0.01% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-35376

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
4.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.0 3.4 [email protected]
5.8 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L 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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
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:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:L)
Might cause slowdowns, glitches, or partial disruption—not a full brick.
 1.0 4.7 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-35376

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-35376

GHSA-6g8r-74qp-6859 · Severity: medium · Ecosystem: rust — uutils coreutils has a Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-35376

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-35376 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (rust-coreutils), 4 status rows across 4 suites (bookworm, forky, sid, trixie): open 4. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-35376
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-35376 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-2026-35376

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-35376

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
uutils coreutils < 0.8.0 cpe:2.3:a:uutils:coreutils:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:*

References for CVE-2026-35376

cvelogic Threat Intelligence