Rsync: path traversal vulnerability in rsync

Summary

A path traversal vulnerability exists in rsync. It stems from behavior enabled by the `--inc-recursive` option, a default-enabled option for many client options and can be enabled by the server even if not explicitly enabled by the client. When using the `--inc-recursive` option, a lack of proper symlink verification coupled with deduplication checks occurring on a per-file-list basis could allow a server to write files outside of the client's intended destination directory. A malicious server could write malicious files to arbitrary locations named after valid directories/paths on the client.

Timeline

1. Jan 14, 2025, 5:57 PM UTCCVE published
2. Feb 26, 2025, 2:12 PM UTCCISA SSVC assessment

   Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

3. Oct 21, 2026, 8:11 PM UTCRecord last updated

Affected versions

• rsync

  through 3.3.0

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• rsync

  Version range not reported

• discovery/discovery-ui-rhel9

  Version range not reported

• openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-8

  Version range not reported

• openshift/ose-rhel-coreos-9

  Version range not reported

References 16