Duplicate Advisory: uutils coreutils has an Improper Input Validation issue
### Duplicate Advisory This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-p6rv-2qpm-fwvg. This link is maintained to preserve external references. ### Original Description An argument parsing error in the kill utility of uutils coreutils incorrectly interprets kill -1 as a request to send the default signal (SIGTERM) to PID -1. Sending a signal to PID -1 causes the kernel to terminate all processes visible to the caller, potentially leading to a system crash or massive process termination. This differs from GNU coreutils, which correctly recognizes -1 as a signal number in this context and would instead report a missing PID argument.
AI Analysis
Technical Summary
The vulnerability in uutils coreutils' kill utility arises from improper input validation during argument parsing. Specifically, the command 'kill -1' is incorrectly interpreted as sending SIGTERM to PID -1, which in Unix-like systems means sending the signal to all processes the user can signal. This can lead to unintended termination of multiple processes, causing denial of service. GNU coreutils handles this case correctly by recognizing '-1' as a signal number and requiring a PID argument, thus avoiding this issue. The affected versions are those before 0.6.0.
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability can cause a denial of service by terminating all processes visible to the user executing the kill command with the '-1' argument. This can lead to system instability or crash due to mass process termination. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is available, users should avoid using the 'kill -1' command with uutils coreutils versions prior to 0.6.0. Consider using GNU coreutils as an alternative where this issue does not exist.
Duplicate Advisory: uutils coreutils has an Improper Input Validation issue
Description
### Duplicate Advisory This advisory has been withdrawn because it is a duplicate of GHSA-p6rv-2qpm-fwvg. This link is maintained to preserve external references. ### Original Description An argument parsing error in the kill utility of uutils coreutils incorrectly interprets kill -1 as a request to send the default signal (SIGTERM) to PID -1. Sending a signal to PID -1 causes the kernel to terminate all processes visible to the caller, potentially leading to a system crash or massive process termination. This differs from GNU coreutils, which correctly recognizes -1 as a signal number in this context and would instead report a missing PID argument.
CVSS v3.1
Score 5.5medium
Affected software
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Weaknesses
AI-Powered Analysis
Machine-generated threat intelligence
Technical Analysis
The vulnerability in uutils coreutils' kill utility arises from improper input validation during argument parsing. Specifically, the command 'kill -1' is incorrectly interpreted as sending SIGTERM to PID -1, which in Unix-like systems means sending the signal to all processes the user can signal. This can lead to unintended termination of multiple processes, causing denial of service. GNU coreutils handles this case correctly by recognizing '-1' as a signal number and requiring a PID argument, thus avoiding this issue. The affected versions are those before 0.6.0.
Potential Impact
Exploitation of this vulnerability can cause a denial of service by terminating all processes visible to the user executing the kill command with the '-1' argument. This can lead to system instability or crash due to mass process termination. There is no impact on confidentiality or integrity reported.
Mitigation Recommendations
Patch status is not yet confirmed — check the vendor advisory for current remediation guidance. Until a fix is available, users should avoid using the 'kill -1' command with uutils coreutils versions prior to 0.6.0. Consider using GNU coreutils as an alternative where this issue does not exist.
Technical Details
- Gcve Source
- db.gcve.eu
- Osv Id
- GHSA-gpcg-h6x2-c26p
- Osv Schema Version
- 1.4.0
- Aliases
- []
- Ecosystems
- ["crates.io"]
- Database Specific Severity
- MODERATE
- Cvss Version
- 3.1
Threat ID: 6a4c341a27e9c797195f83ee
Added to database: 07/06/2026, 23:02:50 UTC
Last enriched: 07/07/2026, 00:22:38 UTC
Last updated: 07/31/2026, 12:27:30 UTC
Views: 16
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