CVE-2026-35360 uutils coreutils touch Arbitrary File Truncation via TOCTOU Race Condition

What is CVE-2026-35360?

CVE-2026-35360 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

The touch utility in uutils coreutils is vulnerable to a Time-of-Check to Time-of-Use (TOCTOU) race condition during file creation. When the utility identifies a missing path, it later attempts creation using File::create(), which internally uses O_TRUNC. An attacker can exploit this window to create a file or swap a symlink at the target path, causing touch to truncate an existing file and leading to permanent data loss.

Weakness: CWE-367

Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-35360?

2 open source packages ship an affected version, including coreutils. It affects 1 product.

Products include Uutils Coreutils.

How do I fix CVE-2026-35360?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Is CVE-2026-35360 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-35360 exists.

Other vulnerabilities in Uutils coreutils

• CVE-2026-35338 uutils coreutils chmod Path Traversal Bypass of --preserve-root High 7.3
• 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 uutils coreutils mkfifo Unauthorized Permission Change on Existing Files High 7.1
• CVE-2026-35352 uutils coreutils mkfifo Privilege Escalation via TOCTOU Race Condition High 7.0
• CVE-2026-35349 uutils coreutils Path-Based Safety Bypass with --preserve-root Medium 6.7

Sources

• CVE record
• NVD
• OSV
• GitHub advisory
• How this page is made

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2026-35360, GHSA-q6m9-xj2w-xmrc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-35360.