CVE-2026-35346
Description
The comm utility in uutils coreutils silently corrupts data by performing lossy UTF-8 conversion on all output lines. The implementation uses String::from_utf8_lossy(), which replaces invalid UTF-8 byte sequences with the Unicode replacement character (U+FFFD). This behavior differs from GNU comm, which processes raw bytes and preserves the original input. This results in corrupted output when the utility is used to compare binary files or files using non-UTF-8 legacy encodings.
Affected packages
Versions sourced from the GitHub Security Advisory.
| Package | Affected versions | Patched versions |
|---|---|---|
coreutilscrates.io | < 0.6.0 | 0.6.0 |
Affected products
1Patches
1b9372e509ea9Fixes #10192 - fix(comm): improve stdout handling and add test for lossy UTF-8 output (#10206)
2 files changed · +48 −6
src/uu/comm/src/comm.rs+24 −6 modified@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use std::cmp::Ordering; use std::ffi::OsString; use std::fs::{File, metadata}; -use std::io::{self, BufRead, BufReader, Read, StdinLock, stdin}; +use std::io::{self, BufRead, BufReader, BufWriter, Read, StdinLock, Write, stdin}; use std::path::Path; use uucore::display::Quotable; use uucore::error::{FromIo, UResult, USimpleError}; @@ -184,13 +184,25 @@ pub fn are_files_identical(path1: &Path, path2: &Path) -> io::Result<bool> { } } +fn write_line_with_delimiter<W: Write>(writer: &mut W, delim: &[u8], line: &[u8]) -> UResult<()> { + writer + .write_all(delim) + .map_err_context(|| translate!("comm-error-write"))?; + writer + .write_all(line) + .map_err_context(|| translate!("comm-error-write"))?; + Ok(()) +} + fn comm(a: &mut LineReader, b: &mut LineReader, delim: &str, opts: &ArgMatches) -> UResult<()> { let width_col_1 = usize::from(!opts.get_flag(options::COLUMN_1)); let width_col_2 = usize::from(!opts.get_flag(options::COLUMN_2)); let delim_col_2 = delim.repeat(width_col_1); let delim_col_3 = delim.repeat(width_col_1 + width_col_2); + let mut writer = BufWriter::new(io::stdout().lock()); + let ra = &mut Vec::new(); let mut na = a.read_line(ra); let rb = &mut Vec::new(); @@ -239,7 +251,9 @@ fn comm(a: &mut LineReader, b: &mut LineReader, delim: &str, opts: &ArgMatches) break; } if !opts.get_flag(options::COLUMN_1) { - print!("{}", String::from_utf8_lossy(ra)); + writer + .write_all(ra) + .map_err_context(|| translate!("comm-error-write"))?; } ra.clear(); na = a.read_line(ra); @@ -250,7 +264,7 @@ fn comm(a: &mut LineReader, b: &mut LineReader, delim: &str, opts: &ArgMatches) break; } if !opts.get_flag(options::COLUMN_2) { - print!("{delim_col_2}{}", String::from_utf8_lossy(rb)); + write_line_with_delimiter(&mut writer, delim_col_2.as_bytes(), rb)?; } rb.clear(); nb = b.read_line(rb); @@ -262,7 +276,7 @@ fn comm(a: &mut LineReader, b: &mut LineReader, delim: &str, opts: &ArgMatches) break; } if !opts.get_flag(options::COLUMN_3) { - print!("{delim_col_3}{}", String::from_utf8_lossy(ra)); + write_line_with_delimiter(&mut writer, delim_col_3.as_bytes(), ra)?; } ra.clear(); rb.clear(); @@ -280,12 +294,16 @@ fn comm(a: &mut LineReader, b: &mut LineReader, delim: &str, opts: &ArgMatches) if opts.get_flag(options::TOTAL) { let line_ending = LineEnding::from_zero_flag(opts.get_flag(options::ZERO_TERMINATED)); - print!( + write!( + writer, "{total_col_1}{delim}{total_col_2}{delim}{total_col_3}{delim}{}{line_ending}", translate!("comm-total") - ); + ) + .map_err_context(|| translate!("comm-error-write"))?; } + writer.flush().ok(); + if should_check_order && (checker1.has_error || checker2.has_error) { // Print the input error message once at the end if input_error {
tests/by-util/test_comm.rs+24 −0 modified@@ -649,6 +649,30 @@ fn test_comm_eintr_handling() { .stdout_contains("line3"); } +#[test] +fn test_output_lossy_utf8() { + let scene = TestScenario::new(util_name!()); + let at = &scene.fixtures; + + // Create files with invalid UTF-8 + // A: \xfe\n\xff\n + // B: \xff\n\xfe\n + at.write_bytes("a", b"\xfe\n\xff\n"); + at.write_bytes("b", b"\xff\n\xfe\n"); + + // GNU comm output (and uutils with fix): + // \xfe\n (col 1) + // \t\t\xff\n (col 3) + // \t\xfe\n (col 2) + // Hex: fe 0a 09 09 ff 0a 09 fe 0a + + scene + .ucmd() + .args(&["a", "b"]) + .fails() // Fails because of unsorted input + .stdout_is_bytes(b"\xfe\n\t\t\xff\n\t\xfe\n"); +} + #[test] #[cfg(any(target_os = "linux", target_os = "android"))] fn test_comm_anonymous_pipes() {
Vulnerability mechanics
Generated by null/stub on May 9, 2026. Inputs: CWE entries + fix-commit diffs from this CVE's patches. Citations validated against bundle.
References
6- github.com/uutils/coreutils/pull/10206nvdIssue TrackingPatchWEB
- github.com/uutils/coreutils/issues/10192nvdExploitIssue TrackingVendor AdvisoryWEB
- github.com/advisories/GHSA-hwhf-8p2f-45wrghsaADVISORY
- nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-35346ghsaADVISORY
- github.com/uutils/coreutils/commit/b9372e509ea9b278fe13763237067a261bb8c946ghsaWEB
- github.com/uutils/coreutils/releases/tag/0.6.0nvdRelease NotesWEB
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