Medium

Symlink traversal race in Go Root.Chmod on Linux

IdentifiersCVE-2026-32282CWE-367

CVE-2026-32282 affects Go's Root.Chmod implementation on Linux. During a chmod operation, if the checked target path is replaced with a symbolic link after validation but before the chmod is applied, Root.Chmod may operate on the symlink target instead of the originally validated path. The issue arises because the Linux fchmodat syscall silently ignores the AT_SYMLINK_NOFOLLOW flag, which Root.Chmod relied on to prevent symlink traversal. Root.Chmod does perform a pre-check and rejects targets that are already symlinks pointing outside the root, so exploitation is limited to a time-of-check to time-of-use race where an attacker can swap the target with a symlink between the check and the chmod operation.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

A successful exploit can cause file permission changes to be applied to a file outside the intended root boundary. This breaks the security expectation that Root.Chmod is confined to the designated root and can allow unauthorized modification of permissions on attacker-chosen external filesystem targets, subject to the privileges of the affected process. The impact is constrained to chmod semantics rather than direct code execution, but it can weaken filesystem protections and enable follow-on abuse depending on which external file is targeted.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

Until patched, reduce exposure by avoiding reliance on Root.Chmod for security-sensitive permission changes in attacker-influenced directories on Linux. Prevent untrusted users or processes from modifying directory entries involved in the operation, especially the ability to rename or replace the target path during execution. Where possible, perform permission changes only on trusted paths, minimize concurrent attacker access to the filesystem subtree, and use stronger containment around writable directories to reduce the chance of a TOCTOU symlink swap.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Upgrade to a fixed Go release that addresses CVE-2026-32282. According to the provided content, the Go team fixed the issue in Go 1.26.2 and Go 1.25.9. On Linux, the fix uses the fchmodat2 syscall when available and otherwise uses a workaround via /proc/self/fd to avoid unintended symlink traversal outside the root.

PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

EXPOSURE SURFACE

Affected products & vendors

Products and vendors Mallory has correlated with this vulnerability. Open in Mallory to drill down to specific CPE configurations and version ranges.

VendorProductType

GolangGoapplication

GolangGolangapplication

Grafana LabsGrafanaapplication

Grafana LabsGrafana-Pcpapplication

LinuxLinuxhardware

Rocky LinuxDelveapplication

Rocky LinuxGo-Fdo-Clientapplication

Rocky LinuxGo-Fdo-Serverapplication

Rocky LinuxGolangapplication

Rocky LinuxGrafana-Pcpapplication

Rocky LinuxImage-Builderapplication

Rocky LinuxModule.Delveapplication

Rocky LinuxModule.Golangapplication

Rocky LinuxOsbuild-Composerapplication

Rocky LinuxRocky Linuxoperating_system

Rocky LinuxYggdrasilapplication

Rocky LinuxYggdrasil-Worker-Package-Managerapplication

Vendor-confirmed product mapping. Mallory continuously reconciles this list against your asset inventory.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

26 sources tracked across advisories and community write-ups. News coverage will land here when it surfaces.

26 SOURCESView more in app

No news coverage yet. Advisories and community discussion only.

What this page doesn’t show

The version that knows your environment.

This page is what’s public. Mallory adds the parts that aren’t: which of your assets are affected, which adversaries are exploiting it right now, which detections to deploy, and what to do tonight.

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Exposure mapping

Query your assets running an affected version, and investigate the blast radius.

Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity9

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES

MITRE CVE

cve.org · CVE-2026-32282

NVD

nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-32282

pkg.go.dev/vuln/GO-2026-4864

Release Notes

groups.google.com/g/golang-announce/c/0uYbvbPZRWU

Issue Tracking

go.dev/issue/78293