Cargo prior to Rust 1.26.0 may download the wrong dependency

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

7.5 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2019-16760: 1.26% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 69.65 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Cargo prior to Rust 1.26.0 may download the wrong dependency if your package.toml file uses the package configuration key. Usage of the package key to rename dependencies in Cargo.toml is ignored in Rust 1.25.0 and prior. When Rust 1.25.0 and prior is used Cargo may download the wrong dependency, which could be squatted on crates.io to be a malicious package. This not only affects manifests that you write locally yourself, but also manifests published to crates.io. Rust 1.0.0 through Rust 1.25.0 is affected by this advisory because Cargo will ignore the package key in manifests. Rust 1.26.0 through Rust 1.30.0 are not affected and typically will emit an error because the package key is unstable. Rust 1.31.0 and after are not affected because Cargo understands the package key. Users of the affected versions are strongly encouraged to update their compiler to the latest available one. Preventing this issue from happening requires updating your compiler to be either Rust 1.26.0 or…

Published by the source

24 May 2022, 16:57 UTC

Last modified by the source

29 Aug 2024, 18:03 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:38 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-9f3p-wvj7-q82x

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2019-16760

Advisory: Cargo prior to Rust 1.26.0 may download the wrong dependency
IDs: CVE-2019-16760, GHSA-9f3p-wvj7-q82x
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2019-16760 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:38 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.5)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: cargo 0.27.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io cargo: affected < 0.27.0; fixed in 0.27.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- crates.io cargo: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on cargo.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-9f3p-wvj7-q82x (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-9f3p-wvj7-q82x lists affected ranges: crates.io cargo >=0 <0.27.0)

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