6.5
MEDIUM CVSS 4.0
CVE-2026-5223
Crates in third party registries can override the cached source of other crates
Description

Cargo incorrectly handled symlinks inside of crate tarballs downloaded from third-party registries, allowing a malicious crate to override the source code of another crate from the same registry. The severity of the vulnerability is **medium** for users of third-party registries. Users of crates.io are **not affected**, as crates.io forbids uploading crates containing any symlink.

INFO

Published Date :

May 25, 2026, 10:16 a.m.

Last Modified :

June 1, 2026, 5:52 p.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !

Source :

986d4109-89ea-491f-99fd-a8e4803919bd
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-5223 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Rust-lang cargo
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 MEDIUM [email protected]
CVSS 4.0 MEDIUM 986d4109-89ea-491f-99fd-a8e4803919bd
CVSS 4.0 MEDIUM 986d4109-89ea-491f-99fd-a8e4803919bd
Solution
Update Cargo to a version that addresses symlink handling in crate tarballs.
  • Update Cargo to the latest secure version.
  • Avoid using third-party registries that allow symlinks.
  • Verify crate integrity before use.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools

Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to CVE-2026-5223.

URL Resource
https://blog.rust-lang.org/2026/05/25/cve-2026-5223/ Mitigation Vendor Advisory
https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/pull/17031 Issue Tracking Patch
https://groups.google.com/g/rustlang-security-announcements/c/IB74S7Yksg8 Third Party Advisory Mailing List
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-5223 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-5223 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-5223 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-5223 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • Initial Analysis by [email protected]

    Jun. 01, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
    Added CPE Configuration OR *cpe:2.3:a:rust-lang:cargo:*:*:*:*:*:rust:*:* versions up to (excluding) 1.96.0
    Added Reference Type rust: https://blog.rust-lang.org/2026/05/25/cve-2026-5223/ Types: Mitigation, Vendor Advisory
    Added Reference Type rust: https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/pull/17031 Types: Issue Tracking, Patch
    Added Reference Type rust: https://groups.google.com/g/rustlang-security-announcements/c/IB74S7Yksg8 Types: Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
  • New CVE Received by 986d4109-89ea-491f-99fd-a8e4803919bd

    May. 25, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description Cargo incorrectly handled symlinks inside of crate tarballs downloaded from third-party registries, allowing a malicious crate to override the source code of another crate from the same registry. The severity of the vulnerability is **medium** for users of third-party registries. Users of crates.io are **not affected**, as crates.io forbids uploading crates containing any symlink.
    Added CVSS V4.0 AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:N/VI:L/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:H/E:X/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:X
    Added CWE CWE-61
    Added Reference https://blog.rust-lang.org/2026/05/25/cve-2026-5223/
    Added Reference https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/pull/17031
    Added Reference https://groups.google.com/g/rustlang-security-announcements/c/IB74S7Yksg8
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.