# CVE-2026-35340: uutils coreutils chown and chgrp False Success Exit Code in Recursive Mode

> uutils coreutils chown/chgrp return success despite failures in recursive mode, potentially causing security misconfigurations in administrative scripts.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N`)
- **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:** 22 Apr 2026
- **Updated:** 22 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** DEBIAN-CVE-2026-35340, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-35340

## What is CVE-2026-35340?

CVE-2026-35340 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Uutils coreutils, published on 22 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.

### Official 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.

Weakness: CWE-253 (Incorrect Check of Function Return Value)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-35340?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Uutils Coreutils.

## How do I fix CVE-2026-35340?

Apply the vendor's patch.

## Is CVE-2026-35340 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-35340 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Uutils coreutils

- [CVE-2026-35338](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35338/): uutils coreutils chmod Path Traversal Bypass of --preserve-root (high 7.3)
- [CVE-2026-35368](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35368/): uutils coreutils chroot Local Privilege Escalation and chroot Escape in via Name Service Switch (NSS) Injection (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2026-35341](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35341/): uutils coreutils mkfifo Unauthorized Permission Change on Existing Files (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2026-35352](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35352/): uutils coreutils mkfifo Privilege Escalation via TOCTOU Race Condition (high 7.0)
- [CVE-2026-35349](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35349/): uutils coreutils Path-Based Safety Bypass with --preserve-root (medium 6.7)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-35340 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-35340 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Uutils coreutils, published on 22 Apr 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-35340 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Uutils coreutils. 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-2026-35340/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35340/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-35340
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35340
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-35340

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-35340/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.