CompoundIncomplete

CWE-61UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following

Category: other

Description

The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files. A product that allows UNIX symbolic links (symlink) as part of paths whether in internal code or through user input can allow an attacker to spoof the symbolic link and traverse the file system to unintended locations or access arbitrary files. The symbolic link can permit an attacker to read/write/corrupt a file that they originally did not have permissions to access.

Common consequences· 1

  • Confidentiality / Integrity — Read Files or Directories, Modify Files or Directories

Potential mitigations· 2

  • [Implementation]Symbolic link attacks often occur when a program creates a tmp directory that stores files/links. Access to the directory should be restricted to the program as to prevent attackers from manipulating the files.
  • [Architecture and Design]

Related CAPEC attack patterns· 1

CAPEC-27

References

  1. https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/61.html

Exploits (incoming)1

TypeTargetConfidenceTier
AttackPatternLeveraging Race Conditions via Symbolic Linkscapec-27100%live

(incoming)16

TypeTargetConfidenceTier
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-10854cve-2025-108540%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-23394cve-2025-233940%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-33225cve-2025-332250%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-55345cve-2025-553450%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-62161cve-2025-621610%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-62596cve-2025-625960%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2025-67487cve-2025-674870%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-27976cve-2026-279760%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-29203cve-2026-292030%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-34078cve-2026-340780%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-39860cve-2026-398600%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-39861cve-2026-398610%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-41326cve-2026-413260%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-42275cve-2026-422750%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-6475cve-2026-64750%live
VulnerabilityCVE-2026-7819cve-2026-78190%live

Related by meaning· 6

Nearest entities by semantic similarity across the cs-graph corpus.

CWE
UNIX Hard Link
CWE
Windows Shortcut Following (.LNK)
CWE
Windows Hard Link
CWE
Path Equivalence: 'fakedir/../realdir/filename'
CWE
Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
CWE
Insecure Operation on Windows Junction / Mount Point
Sourced from MITRE CWE 4.20. Curated for EU compliance use cases by Adam Lundqvist, Founder at SQUR.