1. resolves symlink to its target and stores the resolved path for determining when output is written,
2. opens the original symlink path (not the resolved one) to read the file.
Between these two calls there is a race window. If an attacker atomically replaces the symlink with a different target during that window, sed will: read content from the new (attacker-chosen) symlink target and write the processed result to the path recorded in step 1. This can lead to arbitrary file overwrite with attacker-controlled content in the context of the sed process.
This issue was fixed in version 4.10.
Analysis and contextual insights are available on OpenCVE Cloud.
No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.
Additional remediation guidance may be available on OpenCVE Cloud.
Tracking
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| Source | ID | Title |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu USN |
USN-8229-1 | sed vulnerability |
Wed, 13 May 2026 15:30:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| References |
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Mon, 20 Apr 2026 14:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Metrics |
ssvc
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Mon, 20 Apr 2026 13:45:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| First Time appeared |
Gnu
Gnu sed |
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| Vendors & Products |
Gnu
Gnu sed |
Mon, 20 Apr 2026 12:15:00 +0000
| Type | Values Removed | Values Added |
|---|---|---|
| Description | When sed is invoked with both -i (in-place edit) and --follow-symlinks, the function open_next_file() performs two separate, non-atomic filesystem operations on the same path: 1. resolves symlink to its target and stores the resolved path for determining when output is written, 2. opens the original symlink path (not the resolved one) to read the file. Between these two calls there is a race window. If an attacker atomically replaces the symlink with a different target during that window, sed will: read content from the new (attacker-chosen) symlink target and write the processed result to the path recorded in step 1. This can lead to arbitrary file overwrite with attacker-controlled content in the context of the sed process. This issue was fixed in version 4.10. | |
| Title | Race Condition in GNU Sed | |
| Weaknesses | CWE-367 | |
| References |
| |
| Metrics |
cvssV4_0
|
Status: PUBLISHED
Assigner: CERT-PL
Published:
Updated: 2026-05-13T05:17:46.051Z
Reserved: 2026-04-09T09:42:24.687Z
Link: CVE-2026-5958
Updated: 2026-05-13T05:17:46.051Z
Status : Awaiting Analysis
Published: 2026-04-20T12:16:08.433
Modified: 2026-05-13T06:16:14.780
Link: CVE-2026-5958
No data.
OpenCVE Enrichment
Updated: 2026-04-20T14:00:08Z
Ubuntu USN