CVE-2026-53803
Local rsync symlink flaw allows file overwrite and local privilege escalation.
Is CVE-2026-53803 being exploited?
Not confirmed. CVE-2026-53803 does not appear in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog, which records only exploitation that has been observed and reported publicly. That is evidence of absence of a report, not evidence the flaw is unattacked. EPSS currently estimates a 0.23% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days.
How severe is CVE-2026-53803?
CVE-2026-53803 is rated High with a CVSS score of 8.5. Severity describes how bad exploitation would be, not how likely it is: pair it with exploitation evidence before deciding what to patch first.
Is there a patch for CVE-2026-53803?
Yes. A fix has been recorded for CVE-2026-53803. The vendor advisory is the authority on the exact fixed version — apply it from there rather than from a summary.
What does CVE-2026-53803 affect?
CVE-2026-53803 affects rsync < 3.5.0, Unix/Linux systems, setuid rsync installations, rsync daemon configurations. Confirm the exact affected versions against the vendor advisory before deciding you are exposed.
What should I do about CVE-2026-53803?
Upgrade rsync to ≥3.5.0; avoid running setuid/privileged rsync; audit log/write-batch paths.
Exploitation status reflects CISA's KEV catalog as we last synced it. Check the catalog directly.
Local attackers can abuse symlinks to force rsync to overwrite arbitrary files (log/write-batch/daemon paths), enabling privilege escalation on setuid/privileged rsync.
Patch when possible
- affected<= 3.4.4
As published in the CVE Program record. A version outside these ranges is not a statement that it is unaffected — vendors sometimes understate a range, and distribution-backported builds carry upstream numbers that do not reflect what was patched into them.