CVE-2026-35339
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'.
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.14%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
Description
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.
- CVSS 3.1
- 5.5 MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
- EPSS
- 0.14% probability · 4th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-253
- Affected
- uutils/coreutils
- Source
- security@ubuntu.com
References
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/9793Issue Tracking, Patch
- https://github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.6.0Release Notes
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA. Refreshed daily.