What’s Vulnerable › Vulnerabilities

CVE-2026-53789: rsync < 3.5.0 Arbitrary File Deletion via Malicious File List

• Severity: high (CVSS 8.1 v3.1)
• Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
• EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
• Public exploit or detection template: none known
• Published: 2026-08-13 · updated 2026-10-24
• Weakness: CWE-807

Description

rsync before 3.5.0 contains an improper path handling vulnerability that allows a malicious sender to expand the scope of --delete operations beyond the intended destination subtree by sending a crafted file list that causes rsync to reclassify implied parent directory entries or treat synthetic paths as the transfer root. Attackers can exploit multiple variants including implied parent reclassification, synthetic root path construction, legacy protocol behavior below version 30, and non-directory root handling to cause the receiver to delete files outside the authorized destination directory.

Affected products

• RsyncProject rsync: before 3.5.0 — fixed in 3.5.0

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: RsyncProject rsync 3.5.0. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

• https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0
• https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-fxwg-7hmf-xh5q
• https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-arbitrary-file-deletion-via-malicious-file-list

Get alerted when CVE-2026-53789 or the next vulnerability affects your stack