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Link Following (Symlink)Weakness · CWE-59

CVE-2026-44051

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-21
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
87/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
An improper link resolution vulnerability in Netatalk 3.0.2 through 4.4.2 allows a remote authenticated attacker to read arbitrary files or overwrite arbitrary files via attacker-controlled symlink creation.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

Netatalk versions 3.0.2 through 4.4.2 contain an improper link resolution vulnerability where the AFP server does not properly validate symbolic links created by authenticated users, allowing an attacker to make the server follow symlinks to read or overwrite files outside the intended directory scope.

MitigationUpgrade Netatalk to a version beyond 4.4.2 when available, or restrict AFP service access to only trusted authenticated users via network segmentation and authentication controls.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Netatalk installation
    Run 'dpkg -l | grep netatalk' (Debian/Ubuntu) or 'rpm -qa | grep netatalk' (RHEL/CentOS) or check for the existence of /etc/netatalk directory
    Affected if Netatalk is installed on the system
  2. Determine installed Netatalk version
    Run 'netatalk -V' or 'netatalk --version' to display the version number, or query via package manager
    Affected if Version output shows any release between 3.0.2 and 4.4.2 inclusive
  3. Confirm version is within affected range
    Compare the installed version number against the vulnerable range: versions 3.0.2 through 4.4.2 are affected
    Affected if Installed version is 3.0.2, 3.0.x, 3.1.x, 3.2.x, 3.3.x, 4.0.x, 4.1.x, 4.2.x, 4.3.x, or 4.4.0 through 4.4.2
  4. Check AFP service exposure
    Verify if the AFP service (port 548/tcp) is listening and accessible to network clients; confirm whether authentication is required
    Affected if AFP service is network-accessible and accepts authenticated user connections

System is affected if Netatalk version is 3.0.2 through 4.4.2 and the AFP service accepts remote authenticated connections, allowing an attacker to create symbolic links for unauthorized file access or overwriting.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Netatalk to a version beyond 4.4.2 when available, or restrict AFP service access to only trusted authenticated users via network segmentation and authentication controls.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
13.0 hours of engineering $2,300
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-44051 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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