CVE-2026-53799

A symlink race condition in rsync allows a local attacker to achieve privilege escalation. By substituting a symlink at a predictable destination path between a file write and the application of access control lists (ACLs) or extended attributes (xattrs), an attacker can redirect these permissions to arbitrary files.

By exploiting a race condition during ACL or extended attribute application in rsync, a local attacker can redirect these operations to unintended files to achieve privilege escalation. This vulnerability carries a Moderate impact rating because the strict timing window required for successful exploitation results in high attack complexity.

The CVSS score(s) listed for this vulnerability do not reflect the associated product's status, and are included for informational purposes to better understand the severity of this vulnerability.

Do not use -A/--acls or -X/--xattrs (or fake-super ACL-as-xattr) unless untrusted users cannot create or replace names in the destination tree. If rsyncd is used, add acls and xattrs to refuse options.