Junglewise Threat Intelligence

CVE-2026-41176: Rclone authentication bypass in Remote Control options/set endpoint

CVE-2026-41176 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.8 · Published 2026-04-23

Technologies: github.com/rclone/rclone (Go), Rclone. Vendors: Go, Rclone.

Executive brief

Rclone, a popular tool for syncing files with cloud storage, contains a security flaw in its Remote Control (RC) interface. An unauthenticated attacker can remotely disable security checks on the management interface, allowing them to view sensitive configurations, access stored files, or execute unauthorized commands. This risk is highest for users who have enabled the remote control API without setting a global password.

Technical details

The Rclone Remote Control (RC) API endpoint 'options/set' is incorrectly exposed without the 'AuthRequired' flag. An unauthenticated attacker can send a crafted request to this endpoint to set 'rc.NoAuth=true', which modifies the global runtime configuration and disables authentication requirements for all other RC methods. Once the authorization gate is disabled, the attacker can access sensitive administrative endpoints such as 'config/dump', 'operations/copyfile', and 'core/command', potentially leading to credential disclosure, arbitrary file manipulation, and remote command execution. This vulnerability affects Rclone instances where the RC API is enabled and reachable without global HTTP authentication (e.g., missing --rc-user/--rc-pass). The issue is patched in version 1.73.5.

Affected products

  • rclone rclone >= 1.45.0, < 1.73.5

Timeline

  • 2026-04-19: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
  • 2026-04-23: disclosed: CVE published to NVD
  • 2026-04-23: patched: Version 1.73.5 released with fix

References

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