# CVE-2022-21658: Race condition in std::fs::remove_dir_all in rustlang > An attacker can exploit a race condition in the Rust standard library to trick privileged programs into deleting unauthorized files or directories. - **Severity:** High 7.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:H`) - **Exploited in the wild:** Not known - **Login needed:** Any signed-in user - **Attackable:** Local or same network only - **Victim action needed:** Not needed - **Fix available:** Yes - **Published:** 20 Jan 2022 - **Updated:** 22 Apr 2025 - **Also known as:** ALSA-2022:1894, AZL-8337, DEBIAN-CVE-2022-21658, GHSA-r9cc-f5pr-p3j2, MGASA-2022-0044, RHSA-2022:1894, RLSA-2022:1894, SUSE-SU-2022:0149-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0171-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0175-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0200-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0491-1, SUSE-SU-2022:0843-1, UBUNTU-CVE-2022-21658, openSUSE-SU-2022:0149-1, openSUSE-SU-2022:0171-1, openSUSE-SU-2022:0175-1, openSUSE-SU-2022:0491-1, openSUSE-SU-2022:0843-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:11767-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:11768-1, openSUSE-SU-2024:11769-1 ## What is CVE-2022-21658? CVE-2022-21658 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 20 Jan 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. ### Official description Rust is a multi-paradigm, general-purpose programming language designed for performance and safety, especially safe concurrency. The Rust Security Response WG was notified that the `std::fs::remove_dir_all` standard library function is vulnerable a race condition enabling symlink following (CWE-363). An attacker could use this security issue to trick a privileged program into deleting files and directories the attacker couldn't otherwise access or delete. Rust 1.0.0 through Rust 1.58.0 is affected by this vulnerability with 1.58.1 containing a patch. Note that the following build targets don't have usable APIs to properly mitigate the attack, and are thus still vulnerable even with a patched toolchain: macOS before version 10.10 (Yosemite) and REDOX. We recommend everyone to update to Rust 1.58.1 as soon as possible, especially people developing programs expected to run in privileged contexts (including system daemons and setuid binaries), as those have the highest risk of being affected by this. Note that adding checks in your codebase before calling remove_dir_all will not mitigate the vulnerability, as they would also be vulnerable to race conditions like remove_dir_all itself. The existing mitigation is working as intended outside of race conditions. Weakness: CWE-367 (Time-of-check Time-of-use (TOCTOU) Race Condition), CWE-363 (Race Condition Enabling Link Following) ## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-21658? It affects 7 products. | Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | `cargo` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `cargo-doc` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `clippy` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rls` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-analysis` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-debugger-common` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-doc` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-gdb` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-lldb` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-src` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-std-static` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-std-static-wasm32-unknown-unknown` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-std-static-wasm32-wasi` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rust-toolset` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `rustfmt` | AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 1.58.1-1.module_el8.6.0+2748+176088b3 | | `cargo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `cargo-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `cargo-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `clippy` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `clippy-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rls` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rls-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-analysis` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-debugger-common` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-debugsource` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-doc` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-gdb` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-lldb` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-src` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-std-static` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-std-static-wasm32-unknown-unknown` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-std-static-wasm32-wasi` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust-toolset` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rustfmt` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rustfmt-debuginfo` | Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::appstream | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+14021+586eff1a | | `rust` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+826+60f85975 | | `rust-toolset` | Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:1.58.1-1.module+el8.6.0+826+60f85975 | Products: Apple Ipados, Apple Iphone Os, Apple Macos, Apple Tvos, Apple Watchos, Fedoraproject Fedora, Rust-Lang Rust. ## How do I fix CVE-2022-21658? Upgrade to a fixed version. ## Is CVE-2022-21658 being exploited? It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-21658 exists. Public exploit code: - POC for cve-2022-21658 (github_poc): https://github.com/sagittarius-a/cve-2022-21658 ## Other vulnerabilities in Apple Ipados - [CVE-2025-43300](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-43300/): Apple iOS, iPadOS, and macOS Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-24201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24201/): Apple Multiple Products WebKit Out-of-Bounds Write (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-24085](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-24085/): Apple Multiple Products Use-After-Free (critical 10.0, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-31200](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31200/): Apple Multiple Products Memory Corruption (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) - [CVE-2025-31201](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2025-31201/): Apple Multiple Products Arbitrary Read and Write (critical 9.8, exploited in the wild) ## Fix prompt for AI coding agents ```text Check this codebase for CVE-2022-21658 and fix it if it is affected. What it is: CVE-2022-21658 is a high-severity vulnerability in Apple Ipados, published on 20 Jan 2022. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim. Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2022-21658 exists. Affected product: Apple Ipados. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page. Task: 1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies. 2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it. 3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead. 4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why. 5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing. Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21658/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21658/index.md) ``` ## Sources - CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-21658 - NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-21658 - OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-21658 --- From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-21658/ Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.