CVE-2026-17435 File::Rotate::Simple versions before 0.4.0 for Perl create the target of dangling symlinks when rotating files
An attacker can create arbitrary files with elevated permissions via dangling symlinks if the touch option is enabled.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-17435?
CVE-2026-17435 is a low-severity path traversal vulnerability in RRWO File::Rotate::Simple, published on 7 Aug 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
File::Rotate::Simple versions before 0.4.0 for Perl create the target of dangling symlinks when rotating files.
When the file to be rotated is a symbolic link to a missing file, and the touch option is enabled, then the rotate method assumes that the file is absent (since the existence check is against the target), and does not rotate it. But it touches the file, which creates the target.
An attacker that has the ability to create the symlink can use this to create an arbitrary file with permissions of the process rotating the files (which may be different from the process that normally writes to the log file that is being rotated).
Note that the touch option is disabled by default.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-17435?
How do I fix CVE-2026-17435?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-17435 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-17435 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-17435 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-fpmm-8f6h-wv74.