Cargo not respecting umask when extracting crate archives

Exploitation

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

CVSS

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

EPSS

• CVE-2023-38497: 0.70% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 53.30 (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.

The Rust Security Response WG was notified that Cargo did not respect the umask when extracting crate archives on UNIX-like systems. If the user downloaded a crate containing files writeable by any local user, another local user could exploit this to change the source code compiled and executed by the current user. This vulnerability has been assigned CVE-2023-38497. Overview In UNIX-like systems, each file has three sets of permissions: for the user owning the file, for the group owning the file, and for all other local users. The "[umask][1]" is configured on most systems to limit those permissions during file creation, removing dangerous ones. For example, the default umask on macOS and most Linux distributions only allow the user owning a file to write to it, preventing the group owning it or other local users from doing the same. When a dependency is downloaded by Cargo, its source code has to be extracted on disk to allow the Rust compiler to read as part of the build. To…

Published by the source

3 Aug 2023, 16:30 UTC

Last modified by the source

11 Nov 2023, 05:06 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 15:37 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-j3xp-wfr4-hx87

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2023-38497

Advisory: Cargo not respecting umask when extracting crate archives
IDs: CVE-2023-38497, GHSA-j3xp-wfr4-hx87
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2023-38497 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 15:37 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: High (CVSS 7.9)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: cargo 0.72.2. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- crates.io cargo: affected <= 0.72.1; fixed in 0.72.2

## 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-j3xp-wfr4-hx87 (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-j3xp-wfr4-hx87 lists affected ranges: crates.io cargo >=0 <=0.72.1)

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