unlinkat(2) ignores AT_RESOLVE_BENEATH flag
FreeBSD-SA-26:42.unlinkat · CVE-2026-49421
Our decision for FreeSense
FreeBSD corrected this on 2026-06-30, before the FreeBSD source pin of every FreeSense version.
- Advisory: corrected 2026-06-30
- FreeSense 1.0 pin: e004ff15f87e (2026-08-03)
- FreeSense 1.1 pin: a52c50b4b7c2 (2026-10-04)
- FreeSense 1.2 pin: a52c50b4b7c2 (2026-10-04)
By FreeSense version
| Version | Status | FreeBSD pin |
|---|---|---|
| FreeSense 1.01.0.7 · frozen, no further fixes | FixedFreeBSD pin of 2026-08-03 | 2026-08-03e004ff15 |
| FreeSense 1.11.1.9 | FixedFreeBSD pin of 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-04a52c50b4 |
| FreeSense 1.21.2.0-DEVELOPMENT | FixedFreeBSD pin of 2026-10-04 | 2026-10-04a52c50b4 |
Workaround
No workaround is available. Applications that do not use AT_RESOLVE_BENEATH with unlinkat(2) or funlinkat(2) are not affected.
What FreeBSD says
The kernel function that implements unlinkat(2) and funlinkat(2) validated the AT_RESOLVE_BENEATH flag but failed to pass it through to the underlying path lookup. The flag was silently dropped, so path resolution was not actually restricted.
Impact
A process that uses AT_RESOLVE_BENEATH with unlinkat(2) or funlinkat(2) to confine path resolution can in fact resolve paths above the starting directory. A caller relying on this flag for path containment may delete files outside the intended directory tree.
Excerpt from the FreeBSD advisory. Read the original for the full text and the fix.