GHSA-38xv-hf3p-h7mq

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    GHSA-38xv-hf3p-h7mq

    Published: 10 Sept 2026Last Modified: 10 Sept 2026

    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 ```bash # 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](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.

    Affected packages

    Package

    Name: github.com/rclone/rclone

    Purl: pkg:golang/github.com/rclone/rclone

    Affected ranges

    Type: SEMVER

    Events:

    Introduced- 0
    Fixed -1.75.1

    Affected versions

    Common Vulnerability Scoring System

    Attack Vector
    Network
    Adjacent
    Local
    Physical
    Privileges Required
    None
    Low
    High
    User Interaction
    None
    Required
    Scope
    Unchanged
    Changed
    Confidentiality
    None
    Low
    High
    Integrity
    None
    Low
    High
    Availability
    None
    Low
    High