CVE-2026-41991

EUVD-2026-40068
GNU gzip contains a vulnerability in the gzexe utility related to insecure temporary file handling. When the mktemp utility is not available in the user’s PATH, gzexe falls back to constructing a temporary file path based solely on the process ID (PID). This predictable filename is created without exclusive access or existence checks.
A local attacker can pre‑create the predicted temporary file path as a symbolic link pointing to an arbitrary file writable by the victim. When gzexe runs, it follows the symlink and overwrites the target file, resulting in a time‑of‑check to time‑of‑use (TOCTOU) condition that allows arbitrary file overwrite.

This issue has been fixed in the commit 4e6f8b24ab823146ab8776f0b7fe486ab34d4269
ProviderTypeBase ScoreAtk. VectorAtk. ComplexityPriv. RequiredVector
NISTPrimary
4.7 MEDIUM
LOCAL
HIGH
LOW
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
Base Score
CVSS 3.x
EPSS Score
Percentile: 1.95%
Affected Products (NVD)
VendorProductVersion
gnugzip
𝑥
≤ 1.14
𝑥
= Vulnerable software versions
Debian logo
Debian Releases
Debian Product
Codename
gzip
bookworm
postponed
bullseye
postponed
bullseye (security)
vulnerable
forky
vulnerable
sid
vulnerable
trixie
no-dsa
Ubuntu logo
Ubuntu Releases
Ubuntu Product
Codename
gzip
bionic
needs-triage
focal
needs-triage
jammy
Fixed 1.10-4ubuntu4.2
released
noble
Fixed 1.12-1ubuntu3.2
released
questing
ignored
resolute
Fixed 1.14-1~exp2ubuntu1.1
released
trusty
needs-triage
xenial
needs-triage