Description
A flaw in the ChownExecutor used by uutils coreutils chown and chgrp causes the utilities to return an incorrect exit code during recursive operations. The final exit code is determined only by the last file processed. If the last operation succeeds, the command returns 0 even if earlier ownership or group changes failed due to permission errors. This can lead to security misconfigurations where administrative scripts incorrectly assume that ownership has been successfully transferred across a directory tree.
Affected products
uutils: coreutils
References2
- github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/10035 Issue TrackingPatch
- github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.6.0 Release Notes
Metrics
- CVSS 3.1
-
5.5
MEDIUM
Score source: CNA
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N - EPSS — exploit probability
- 0% percentile: 4 · as of 13 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-253
Could this be exploited in your environment?
A patch closes the known hole. A penetration test shows what an attacker can still reach — with proof.