CVE-2026-112909VulnerabilityPublished 29 Oct 2026

mlx-lm · filelock: UnixFileLock truncates and chmods any regular file another user renames or hard-links onto the lock path

Affects mlx-lmSource GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-112909· Medium 6.1

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 6.1 Medium : upgrade to 0.32.2_1 when convenient.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

6.1Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Thin evidence

One scorer or none

CVSS scores by source
CNA (GitHub_M)	CVSS 3.1	6.1

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 12% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch: Available – fixed in 0.32.2_1

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

Attack Vector: Local
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: High
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Local: The vulnerable component is not bound to the network stack and the attacker’s path is via read/write/execute capabilities. Either: the attacker exploits the vulnerability by accessing the target system locally (e.g., keyboard, console), or remotely (e.g., SSH); or the attacker relies on User Interaction by another person to perform actions required to exploit the vulnerability (e.g., tricking a legitimate user into opening a malicious document).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the impacted component. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 20 Oct 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade mlx-lm to 0.32.2_1.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Homebrewmlx-lm`pkg:brew/mlx-lm`Other threats	Affected >=0.28.1 <0.32.2_1	Fixed in 0.32.2_1

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

A patch is available in filelock version 0.32.2_1 that addresses this vulnerability. Users should upgrade to this version or later. The vulnerability depends on directory permissions and kernel settings; ensuring directories containing lock files have the sticky bit set and that the Linux kernel setting fs.protected_hardlinks is enabled (set to 1) can reduce risk. No other specific mitigations are indicated by the vendor advisory.

Description

UnixFileLock, used by FileLock and AsyncFileLock on Unix, truncates and can chmod any regular file that another local user renames or hard-links onto the lock path. This occurs because UnixFileLock empties the file it finds at the lock path when acquiring the lock and applies an explicit mode if provided. An attacker with local access who can rename or hard-link a file onto the lock path can cause the lock user’s file to be truncated and potentially made writable by the attacker, enabling unauthorized read and write access. This vulnerability affects all filelock releases up to and including 4.2.0. The issue requires specific conditions such as writable non-sticky directories or disabled kernel hardlink protections. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.1 (Medium).

Impact

A local user with the ability to rename or hard-link files onto the lock path can cause the lock user’s file to be truncated unexpectedly and, if an explicit mode is set, can gain read and write access to the file. This compromises the integrity of the lock user's data and can lead to unauthorized modification or code execution if the file is later executed or trusted. Confidentiality is partially impacted as the attacker can read data written after the attack, but the original content is lost before reading. Availability is not affected.

Summary

The UnixFileLock backend truncates any regular file found at the lock path upon acquiring the lock and applies chmod with an explicit mode if set, regardless of file ownership or creation. This allows a local attacker who can rename or hard-link a file of the lock user onto the lock path to have that file truncated and, if a permissive mode is set (e.g., 0o666), made readable and writable by the attacker. The attacker can then read and modify data the lock user writes to the file. The vulnerability depends on the attacker’s ability to control directory entries in non-sticky directories or on systems with fs.protected_hardlinks=0. The flaw affects filelock versions up to 4.2.0, with truncation present since the project’s inception and chmod behavior since version 3.10.2. The vulnerability is local, requires low privileges, no user interaction, and has a high integrity impact with partial confidentiality loss but no availability impact. A fix is available in version 0.32.2_1.

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Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 30 Oct 2026, 06:31 UTC

Technical details

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