uutils coreutils tail Privileged Information Disclosure via Symlink Replacement Race

A vulnerability in the tail utility of uutils coreutils allows for the exfiltration of sensitive file contents when using the --follow=name option. Unlike GNU tail, the uutils implementation continues to monitor a path after it has been replaced by a symbolic link, subsequently outputting the contents of the link's target. In environments where a privileged user (e.g., root) monitors a log directory, a local attacker with write access to that directory can replace a log file with a symlink to a sensitive system file (such as /etc/shadow), causing tail to disclose the contents of the sensitive file.

Source published

22 Apr 2026 16:07:49 UTC

Source modified

22 Apr 2026 18:13:19 UTC

Observed here

23 Oct 2026 15:48:27 UTC

Source terms

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CVSS 3.1 · 5.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N