# CVE-2026-71312: rclone: PowerShell Smart-Quote Filename Injection Enables SFTP Server-Side Command Execution

> Attackers can execute arbitrary PowerShell commands on SFTP servers via crafted filenames due to improper quote escaping in rclone.

- **Severity:** High 8.0 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** Yes
- **Published:** 5 Aug 2026
- **Updated:** 7 Aug 2026
- **Also known as:** BIT-rclone-2026-71312, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-71312, GHSA-2m8m-jhrm-w6j2, GO-2026-6182, MINI-8282-vqf8-w4w9, MINI-9mw3-r46c-vcj4, MINI-grv3-6gcg-w8rh, MINI-m869-2v9h-77fw, MINI-qw7r-27gc-gm5x, MINI-rq49-r4r3-vx6v, MINI-wfr6-jgfc-g9qx, MINI-x2x8-v3m7-38w3, ROOT-APP-GOBINARY-CVE-2026-71312, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-71312

## What is CVE-2026-71312?

CVE-2026-71312 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in rclone, published on 5 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

rclone is a command-line program to sync files and directories to and from different cloud storage providers. Prior to v1.75.0, rclone interpolates remote SFTP paths into PowerShell hash commands in backend/sftp/sftp.go, and quoteOrEscapeShellPath escapes only ASCII apostrophe even though PowerShell treats U+2018, U+2019, U+201A, and U+201B as single-quote delimiters, allowing an attacker-controlled filename to terminate the intended path literal and append PowerShell statements that execute as the victim SSH account when server-side hashing is invoked. This issue is fixed in v1.75.0.

Weakness: CWE-78 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-71312?

4 open source packages ship an affected version, including github.com/rclone/rclone and rclone.


| Package | Ecosystem | Affected | Fixed in |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `github.com/rclone/rclone` | Go | All versions | 1.75.0 |
| `github.com/rclone/rclone` | Go | All versions | 1.75.0 |
| `github.com/rclone/rclone` | Go | All versions | 1.75.0 |
| `rclone` | Bitnami | All versions | 1.75.0 |

## How do I fix CVE-2026-71312?

Upgrade github.com/rclone/rclone to 1.75.0 or later.

## Is CVE-2026-71312 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-71312 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-71312 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-71312 is a high-severity command injection vulnerability in rclone, published on 5 Aug 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-71312 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected packages and fixed versions:
- github.com/rclone/rclone (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.75.0
- github.com/rclone/rclone (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.75.0
- github.com/rclone/rclone (Go): affected all versions; fixed in 1.75.0
- rclone (Bitnami): affected all versions; fixed in 1.75.0

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-2026-71312/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-71312/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-71312
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-71312
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-71312

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-71312/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.