CVE-2026-41179 — Vulnerability in github.com/rclone/rclone — CVE...

### Summary The RC endpoint `operations/fsinfo` is exposed without `AuthRequired: true` and accepts attacker-controlled `fs` input. Because `rc.GetFs(...)` supports inline backend definitions, an unauthenticated attacker can instantiate an attacker-controlled backend on demand. For the WebDAV backend, `bearer_token_command` is executed during backend initialization, making single-request unauthenticated local command execution possible on reachable RC deployments without global HTTP authentication. ### Preconditions Preconditions for this vulnerability are: - The rclone remote control API **must** be enabled, either by the `--rc` flag or by running the `rclone rcd` server - The remote control API **must** be reachable by the attacker - by default rclone only serves the rc to localhost unless the `--rc-addr` flag is in use - The rc must have been deployed **without** global RC HTTP authentication - so not using `--rc-user`/`--rc-pass`/`--rc-htpasswd`/etc ### Details The root cause consists of the following pieces: 1. `operations/fsinfo` is not protected with `AuthRequired: true` 2. `operations/fsinfo` calls `rc.GetFs(...)` on attacker-controlled input 3. `rc.GetFs(...)` supports inline backend creation through object-valued `fs` 4. WebDAV backend initialization executes `bearer_token_command` Relevant code paths: - [`fs/operations/rc.go`](https://github.com/rclone/rclone/blob/bf55d5e6d37fd86164a87782191f9e1ffcaafa82/fs/operations/rc.go) - `operations/fsinfo` is registered without `AuthRequired: true` - `rcFsInfo()` calls `rc.GetFs(ctx, in)` - [`fs/rc/cache.go`](https://github.com/rclone/rclone/blob/bf55d5e6d37fd86164a87782191f9e1ffcaafa82/fs/rc/cache.go) - `GetFs()` / `GetFsNamed()` can parse an object-valued `fs` - `getConfigMap()` converts attacker-controlled JSON into a backend config string - [`backend/webdav/webdav.go`](https://github.com/rclone/rclone/blob/bf55d5e6d37fd86164a87782191f9e1ffcaafa82/backend/webdav/webdav.go) - `bearer_token_command` is a supported backend option - `NewFs(...)` calls `fetchAndSetBearerToken()` when `bearer_token_command` is set - `fetchBearerToken()` invokes `exec.Command(...)` This creates a practical single-request unauthenticated command-execution primitive on reachable RC servers without global HTTP authentication. This was alidated on: - current `master` as of 2026-04-14: `bf55d5e6d37fd86164a87782191f9e1ffcaafa82` - latest public release tested locally: `v1.73.4` This was also validated on a public amd64 Ubuntu host controlled by the tester, using direct host execution (not containerized PoC execution). ### PoC #### Minimal single-request form PoC Start a vulnerable RC server: ```bash rclone rcd --rc-addr 127.0.0.1:5572 ``` No `--rc-user`, no `--rc-pass`, no `--rc-htpasswd`. Then send a single request: ```bash curl -sS -X POST http://127.0.0.1:5572/operations/fsinfo \ --data-urlencode "fs=:webdav,url='http://127.0.0.1/',vendor=other,bearer_token_command='/usr/bin/touch /tmp/rclone_fsinfo_rce_poc_marker':" ``` Expected result: - HTTP 200 JSON response from `operations/fsinfo` - `/tmp/rclone_fsinfo_rce_poc_marker` is created on the host ### Impact This is effectively a single-request unauthenticated command-execution vulnerability on reachable RC deployments without global HTTP authentication. In practice, command execution in the rclone process context can lead to higher-impact outcomes such as local file read, file write, or shell access, depending on the deployed environment. #### Testing performed This was successfully reproduced: - on a local test environment - on a public amd64 Ubuntu host controlled by the tester On the public host it was confirmed: - the unauthenticated `operations/fsinfo` exploit worked - command execution occurred on the host - the issue was reproducible through direct host execution