CVE-2026-17435: File::Rotate::Simple versions before 0.4.0 for Perl create the target of dangling symlinks when rotating files.

File::Rotate::Simple versions before 0.4.0 for Perl create the target of dangling symlinks when rotating files.

File::Rotate::Simple versions before 0.4.0 for Perl create the target of dangling symlinks when rotating files. When the file to be rotated is a symbolic link to a missing file, and the touch option is enabled, then the rotate method assumes that the file is absent (since the existence check is against the target), and does not rotate it. But it touches the file, which creates the target. An attacker that has the ability to create the symlink can use this to create an arbitrary file with permissions of the process rotating the files (which may be different from the process that normally writes to the log file that is being rotated). Note that the touch option is disabled by default.

Description from the National Vulnerability Database, published by 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e

What it means for a small business

If your business uses File::Rotate::Simple, install the vendor's update. If you're not sure whether you use it, ask whoever manages your computers.

How likely is an attack? The Exploit Prediction Scoring System, run by FIRST (the global association of security response teams), puts the odds of this one being exploited in the next 30 days at 0.14%, higher than 3% of CVEs. That’s low, but low isn’t zero, and the odds jump the day someone publishes an exploit. Scored October 29, 2026, updated daily.

Check your own setup

Website check: reads what your site runs from the outside (WordPress version, plugins it can see, old server software) and matches it against this database.
Server check: what your web server says about itself, and whether that version has known flaws.

Sources

Part of the Huttenlocher Technologies vulnerability database, refreshed twice a day from CISA and the NVD. The title, category and plain-language guidance are ours; check the linked record before acting on a detail. This is general guidance, not a review of your systems.

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