Duplicate Advisory: uutils coreutils' comm utility incorrectly consumes data from non-regular file inputs before performing comparison operations

Description

Duplicate Advisory

This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-3wfc-mgpm-9rq6. This link is maintained to preserve external references.

Original Description

The comm utility in uutils coreutils incorrectly consumes data from non-regular file inputs before performing comparison operations. The are_files_identical function opens and reads from both input paths to compare content without first verifying if the paths refer to regular files. If an input path is a FIFO or a pipe, this pre-read operation drains the stream, leading to silent data loss before the actual comparison logic is executed. Additionally, the utility may hang indefinitely if it attempts to pre-read from infinite streams like /dev/zero.

Basic information

Type
reviewed
Severity
medium
Advisory on GitHub
Open advisory ↗
Repository advisory
Source code
Browse source ↗
Published (advisory)
2026-04-22 18:31:45 UTC
Updated
2026-07-06 20:17:50 UTC
GitHub reviewed
2026-04-29 23:03:27 UTC
NVD published
2026-04-22
Withdrawn
2026-07-06 20:17:50 UTC

CVSS Scores

Base score Version Severity Vector
4.4 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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: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: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.

Identifiers

Type Value
GHSA GHSA-rx8h-33gr-vhj9 ↗

CWEs

CWE id Name
CWE-20 Improper Input Validation

Affected packages (1)

Vulnerable version ranges and first patched releases as published by GitHub.

Ecosystem Package Vulnerable range First patched Vulnerable functions
rust coreutils < 0.6.0 0.6.0

References

cvelogic Threat Intelligence