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GHSA-38XV-HF3P-H7MQ

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-09-10 22:45 – Updated: 2026-09-10 22:45
VLAI
Summary
rclone: source object names can escape the configured root on upload
Details

Summary

Multiple backends, when given a specially crafted object to copy, can escape the backend confinement.

Backend Keep/Close Per-backend severity
sftp Medium Real filesystem escape, fires under default encoding.
smb Low-Medium Escapes to a different SMB share the credential can reach.
ftp Low Real, leading-.. overshoot PoC is partly neutralized by encoding; escape bounded to at/below the login base.
webdav Low Server-side ACLs are the real boundary.
b2 Low Same-account sibling bucket crossing on a flat keyspace.
swift Low Same, container.
qingstor Low Same.
oracleobjectstorage Low Same.
internetarchive Low IA items are owner-writable only; confined to user's own items.
storj Low Can retarget a different bucket in the same access grant.
filelu Low Confined to the user's own account.
shade Low Confined to the user's own drive.
sia Low siad API password already grants full-daemon access.

Root cause

rclone core does not sanitize .. in a source object's Remote() - verified: nothing in fs/march, fs/sync, fs/list, or fs/operations rejects .. segments before the name reaches the destination backend's Put/Update/Mkdir. Confinement is therefore each backend's responsibility, and these backends join root + remote without a check.

This divides into two classes:

  • Bucket based backends - bucket.Split(path.Join(f.root, rootRelativePath)):
  • backend/b2/b2.go:404, backend/swift/swift.go:464, backend/qingstor/qingstor.go:198, backend/oracleobjectstorage/oracleobjectstorage.go:245, backend/internetarchive/internetarchive.go:1016, backend/smb/smb.go:885, backend/storj/fs.go:289.
  • path.Join collapses .. on the standard (ASCII) form before encoding is applied (e.g. FromStandardPath(path.Join(...)) at backend/b2/b2.go:1641), so EncodeDot never gets the chance to neutralize the ...
  • lib/bucket.Join does not clean paths (keeps .. as a literal key segment); path.Join does. backend/s3, backend/azureblob, backend/googlecloudstorage already use bucket.Join and are therefore not affected.

  • Path based backends - path.Join(root, remote) onto a real path:

  • sftp: remotePath = path.Join(f.absRoot, f.opt.Enc.FromStandardPath(remote)) (backend/sftp/sftp.go:2497). Default encoding is encoder.Display (== Standard), and FromStandardPath short-circuits to a pass-through in that mode, so .. survives; f.absRoot is absolute, so path.Join("/home/user/root", "../../../../etc/passwd") -> /etc/passwd.
  • webdav: filePath at backend/webdav/webdav.go:426-432.
  • ftp: path.Join(f.root, remote) at ~14 sites (e.g. backend/ftp/ftp.go:1247).
  • filelu, shade, sia: analogous joins.

Precondition that limits reachability

For any of these to fire, a source must hand rclone a Remote() containing raw ... That is only possible when:

  1. the source is a flat-keyspace object store (not a filesystem - a local/sftp/smb source cannot represent ../../x as one directory entry), and
  2. the offending key was written with native, non-rclone tooling - rclone's own writer applies EncodeDot and rewrites a .. segment to fullwidth .., so you cannot create such a key through rclone.

rclone's source-side listing does pass a natively-planted raw .. key through unchanged (verified for b2: remote := file.Name[len(prefix):] after ToStandardPath, backend/b2/b2.go:858,867). The reports never establish this precondition; it is the same omission across every member of the class.

Example attack

# Step 1 - attacker, using NATIVE S3 tooling (NOT rclone) on a source the victim ingests from:
aws s3api put-object --bucket shared-drop --key '../../victim-backups/pwned.txt' --body evil.txt

# Step 2 - victim's ordinary ingest:
rclone copy s3-drop:shared-drop b2:victim-uploads/incoming
# path.Join("victim-uploads/incoming", "../../victim-backups/pwned.txt") = "victim-backups/pwned.txt"
# -> lands in the victim's victim-backups bucket instead of under incoming/

The blast radius is the victim's own account (a bucket/share/path the configured credential already reaches) - integrity misdirection, not a cross-tenant or confidentiality breach. sftp/smb are the exception in reach (server filesystem / other share), still bounded by the login's own permissions.

Precedent

This is the same class as the already-fixed local backend advisory https://github.com/rclone/rclone/security/advisories/GHSA-7p4m-qxvv-g567, which added (*Fs).localPath returning errPathEscapes for names resolving outside the root (backend/local/local.go:819-826). That fix was justified because the destination was the operator's own OS filesystem; the same reasoning extends (at lower severity) to sftp/smb.

Show details on source website

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Go",
        "name": "github.com/rclone/rclone"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "1.75.1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-88046"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-22"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": true,
    "github_reviewed_at": "2026-09-10T22:45:36Z",
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-09-10T17:17:08Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "### Summary\n\nMultiple backends, when given a specially crafted object to copy, can escape the backend confinement.\n\n| Backend | Keep/Close | Per-backend severity |\n|---|---|---|\n| sftp | Medium | Real filesystem escape, fires under default encoding. |\n| smb | Low-Medium | Escapes to a different SMB share the credential can reach. |\n| ftp | Low | Real, leading-`..` overshoot PoC is partly neutralized by encoding; escape bounded to at/below the login base. |\n| webdav | Low | Server-side ACLs are the real boundary. |\n| b2 | Low | Same-account sibling **bucket** crossing on a flat keyspace. |\n| swift | Low | Same, container. |\n| qingstor | Low | Same. |\n| oracleobjectstorage | Low | Same. |\n| internetarchive | Low | IA items are owner-writable only; confined to user\u0027s own items. |\n| storj | Low | Can retarget a different bucket in the same access grant. |\n| filelu | Low | Confined to the user\u0027s own account. |\n| shade | Low | Confined to the user\u0027s own drive. |\n| sia | Low | siad API password already grants full-daemon access. |\n\n## Root cause\n\nrclone core does **not** sanitize `..` in a source object\u0027s `Remote()` - verified: nothing in `fs/march`, `fs/sync`, `fs/list`, or `fs/operations` rejects `..` segments before the name reaches the destination backend\u0027s `Put`/`Update`/`Mkdir`. Confinement is therefore each backend\u0027s responsibility, and these backends join `root + remote` without a check.\n\nThis divides into two classes:\n\n- **Bucket based backends** - `bucket.Split(path.Join(f.root, rootRelativePath))`:\n  - `backend/b2/b2.go:404`, `backend/swift/swift.go:464`, `backend/qingstor/qingstor.go:198`, `backend/oracleobjectstorage/oracleobjectstorage.go:245`, `backend/internetarchive/internetarchive.go:1016`, `backend/smb/smb.go:885`, `backend/storj/fs.go:289`.\n  - `path.Join` collapses `..` on the standard (ASCII) form **before** encoding is applied (e.g. `FromStandardPath(path.Join(...))` at `backend/b2/b2.go:1641`), so `EncodeDot` never gets the chance to neutralize the `..`.\n  - `lib/bucket.Join` does **not** clean paths (keeps `..` as a literal key segment); `path.Join` does. `backend/s3`, `backend/azureblob`, `backend/googlecloudstorage` already use `bucket.Join` and are therefore not affected.\n\n- **Path based backends** - `path.Join(root, remote)` onto a real path:\n  - sftp: `remotePath = path.Join(f.absRoot, f.opt.Enc.FromStandardPath(remote))` (`backend/sftp/sftp.go:2497`). Default encoding is `encoder.Display` (== `Standard`), and `FromStandardPath` short-circuits to a pass-through in that mode, so `..` survives; `f.absRoot` is absolute, so `path.Join(\"/home/user/root\", \"../../../../etc/passwd\")` -\u003e `/etc/passwd`.\n  - webdav: `filePath` at `backend/webdav/webdav.go:426-432`.\n  - ftp: `path.Join(f.root, remote)` at ~14 sites (e.g. `backend/ftp/ftp.go:1247`).\n  - filelu, shade, sia: analogous joins.\n\n### Precondition that limits reachability\n\nFor any of these to fire, a **source** must hand rclone a `Remote()` containing raw `..`. That is only possible when:\n\n1. the source is a **flat-keyspace object store** (not a filesystem - a local/sftp/smb source cannot represent `../../x` as one directory entry), **and**\n2. the offending key was written with **native, non-rclone tooling** - rclone\u0027s own writer applies `EncodeDot` and rewrites a `..` segment to fullwidth `\uff0e\uff0e`, so you cannot create such a key *through rclone*.\n\nrclone\u0027s source-side listing does pass a natively-planted raw `..` key through unchanged (verified for b2: `remote := file.Name[len(prefix):]` after `ToStandardPath`, `backend/b2/b2.go:858,867`). The reports never establish this precondition; it is the same omission across every member of the class.\n\n### Example attack\n\n```bash\n# Step 1 - attacker, using NATIVE S3 tooling (NOT rclone) on a source the victim ingests from:\naws s3api put-object --bucket shared-drop --key \u0027../../victim-backups/pwned.txt\u0027 --body evil.txt\n\n# Step 2 - victim\u0027s ordinary ingest:\nrclone copy s3-drop:shared-drop b2:victim-uploads/incoming\n# path.Join(\"victim-uploads/incoming\", \"../../victim-backups/pwned.txt\") = \"victim-backups/pwned.txt\"\n# -\u003e lands in the victim\u0027s victim-backups bucket instead of under incoming/\n```\n\nThe blast radius is the victim\u0027s **own** account (a bucket/share/path the configured credential already reaches) - integrity misdirection, not a cross-tenant or confidentiality breach. sftp/smb are the exception in *reach* (server filesystem / other share), still bounded by the login\u0027s own permissions.\n\n## Precedent\n\nThis is the same class as the already-fixed local backend advisory [https://github.com/rclone/rclone/security/advisories/GHSA-7p4m-qxvv-g567](GHSA-7p4m-qxvv-g567), which added `(*Fs).localPath` returning `errPathEscapes` for names resolving outside the root (`backend/local/local.go:819-826`). That fix was justified because the destination was the operator\u0027s own OS filesystem; the same reasoning extends (at lower severity) to sftp/smb.",
  "id": "GHSA-38xv-hf3p-h7mq",
  "modified": "2026-09-10T22:45:36Z",
  "published": "2026-09-10T22:45:36Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone/security/advisories/GHSA-38xv-hf3p-h7mq"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-88046"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone/commit/57842c5ee4e1407eda06a414a36510cce2db4252"
    },
    {
      "type": "PACKAGE",
      "url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://github.com/rclone/rclone/releases/tag/v1.75.1"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ],
  "summary": "rclone: source object names can escape the configured root on upload"
}



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