Cyber Posture

CWE · MITRE source

CWE-61UNIX Symbolic Link (Symlink) Following

Abstraction: Compound · CVEs in our corpus: 129

The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files.

A product that allows UNIX symbolic links (symlink) as part of paths whether in internal code or through user input can allow an attacker to spoof the symbolic link and traverse the file system to unintended locations or access arbitrary files. The symbolic link can permit an attacker to read/write/corrupt a file that they originally did not have permissions to access.

Last updated: 09 May 2026 03:25 UTC

NIST 800-53 r5 controls that address this weakness (0)AI

Control Title Family Why it addresses this CWE
No NIST controls proposed yet.

Top CVEs of this weakness type, ranked by Risk Priority

CVE Risk CVSS EPSS Published
CVE-2024-281855.910.00.65022024-04-18
CVE-2024-281895.510.00.57582024-04-18
CVE-2023-374603.88.10.36562023-07-25
CVE-2024-546612.09.80.00222024-12-04
CVE-2024-541482.09.80.00642024-12-23
CVE-2025-233942.09.80.00712025-05-26
CVE-2025-621612.010.00.00052025-11-06
CVE-2025-625962.010.00.00052025-11-06
CVE-2026-340782.010.00.00052026-04-07
CVE-2026-398612.010.00.00152026-04-21
CVE-2024-220141.88.80.00402024-04-15
CVE-2024-441321.88.80.00142024-09-17
CVE-2025-553451.88.80.00542025-08-13
CVE-2026-279761.88.80.00112026-02-26
CVE-2026-398601.89.00.00032026-04-08
CVE-2021-391341.78.20.00722021-08-31
CVE-2021-391351.78.20.00212021-08-31
CVE-2025-674871.78.60.00052025-12-09
CVE-2025-332251.78.40.00082025-12-16
CVE-2026-422751.78.70.00042026-05-08
CVE-2019-167751.67.70.00892019-12-13
CVE-2020-150761.67.80.00062021-05-26
CVE-2021-253211.67.80.00032021-06-30
CVE-2024-474801.67.80.00092024-12-18
CVE-2024-475151.68.10.00132024-12-24