The comm utility in uutils coreutils incorrectly consumes data from non-regular file inputs before performing comparison operations. The are_files_identical function opens and reads from both input paths to compare content without first verifying if the paths refer to regular files. If an input path is a FIFO or a pipe, this pre-read operation drains the stream, leading to silent data loss before the actual comparison logic is executed. Additionally, the utility may hang indefinitely if it attempts to pre-read from infinite streams like /dev/zero.
Get an AI-powered plain-language explanation of this vulnerability and remediation steps.
Login to generate AI explanationCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
3 reference(s) from NVD