Low severity · published Aug 20, 2026
CVE-2026-64846
Nix: Arbitrary file truncation outside the sandbox with recursive-nix experimental feature
2.8
CVSS
0.1%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
Nix is a package manager for Linux and other Unix systems. Prior to 2.35.0, a malicious derivation executed with the recursive-nix experimental feature can exploit a time-of-check/time-of-use race involving final symlink handling in the LocalStore restore path. The race can cause writeFile to follow a substituted final symlink when opening a path with O_TRUNC instead of enforcing FinalSymlink::DontFollow, allowing the Nix process or nix-daemon to create or truncate an empty file outside the build sandbox with the daemon user's permissions. The primitive does not provide arbitrary-content writes and requires winning the race. This issue is fixed in version 2.35.0.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N
Attack vector
Local
Complexity
High
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Scope
Changed
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.1% · higher than 1% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
NI
nix · NixOS
< 2.35.0 · source: vendor
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-64846
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-64846
github.com
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/commit/26679828f74ee6e82a4100904e6361f993ff5390
github.com
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/pull/15401
github.com
https://github.com/NixOS/nix/security/advisories/GHSA-6h4g-g5j9-fm5f
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