uutils coreutils has an Improper Input Validation Issue in its cut Utility
Moderate severity
GitHub Reviewed
Published
Apr 22, 2026
to the GitHub Advisory Database
•
Updated Apr 30, 2026
Description
Published by the National Vulnerability Database
Apr 22, 2026
Published to the GitHub Advisory Database
Apr 22, 2026
Last updated
Apr 30, 2026
Reviewed
Apr 30, 2026
A logic error in the cut utility of uutils coreutils causes the program to incorrectly interpret the literal two-byte string '' (two single quotes) as an empty delimiter. The implementation mistakenly maps this string to the NUL character for both the -d (delimiter) and --output-delimiter options. This vulnerability can lead to silent data corruption or logic errors in automated scripts and data pipelines that process strings containing these characters, as the utility may unintentionally split or join data on NUL bytes rather than the intended literal characters.
References