CVE-2026-54371: attr before version 2.6.0 contains a symlink traversal vulnerability in the getfattr and setfattr utilities that allows local attackers to escalate privileges by replacing a pathna

highCVSS 7.1CVE-2026-54371

attr before version 2.6.0 contains a symlink traversal vulnerability in the getfattr and setfattr utilities that allows local attackers to escalate privileges by replacing a pathname component with a symbolic link during directory hierarchy traversal. Attackers who control a pathname component can redirect getfattr and setfattr operations to arbitrary files by substituting a symlink, leading to local privilege escalation when getfattr or setfattr is invoked by a privileged process over an attacker-controlled path.

Details

Source: NVD Recent CVEs (US · database · site)
Severity: high — CVSS 7.1
Published: 2026-06-29
Last updated: 2026-07-03
Exploitation: Not in CISA KEV at last sync

Original advisory: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-54371

Exploitation outlook

EPSS (FIRST.org) estimates each CVE’s probability of exploitation in the next 30 days — here is the CSIRTS.com read on those numbers.

Low exploitation riskCVE-2026-543710.14% 30-day exploitation probability — currently an unlikely target, but scores change as exploit code circulates. Riskier than 3% of all scored CVEs.

Referenced CVEs

CVE	CSIRTS overview	External
CVE-2026-54371	coverage & exploitation status	NVD · CVE.org

Same CVEs, other sources

How other CERTs, PSIRTs and databases cover the vulnerabilities in this advisory.

highCVE-2026-54371: attr < 2.6.0 Symlink Traversal Privilege Escalation via getfattr/setfattrmsrc

Recent advisories for attr

A cluster of recent advisories against the same product widens the attack surface — attackers routinely chain freshly published CVEs on one product, so review these together.

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highCVE-2026-58050: libssh2 through 1.11.1 reads an attacker-controlled 32-bit attribute count from a publickey-su…nvd · 2026-06-28
highCVE-2026-57435: Nokogiri: Possible Use-After-Free when setting an attribute value via `Nokogiri::XML::Attr#val…msrc · 2026-06-09
criticalCVE-2026-53027: fs/ntfs3: fix missing run load for vcn0 in attr_data_get_block_locked()msrc · 2026-06-09
highCVE-2026-54371: attr < 2.6.0 Symlink Traversal Privilege Escalation via getfattr/setfattrmsrc · 2026-06-09