CVE-2026-54572: rclone Link Following

Vulnerability summary

CVE-2026-54572 is a high (CVSS 8.8) Link Following vulnerability in rclone. EPSS estimates a 0.40% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 33.1% of scored vulnerabilities. 1 public exploit is recorded.

Timeline

1. 14-07-2026
   PublishedVulnerability first disclosed.
2. 15-07-2026
   Last modifiedVulnerability information updated.

Description

Rclone is a command-line program to sync files and directories to and from different cloud storage providers. Prior to 1.74.4, with -l/--links, rclone serializes symlinks as .rclonelink text objects and recreates them on a local destination without validating the target, allowing an attacker-controlled remote to plant an escaping symlink and cause a following object write to land outside the destination with attacker-chosen contents. This issue is fixed in version 1.74.4.

• CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.