Tar
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Arbitrary file overwrite in node-tar before 7.5.10 lets a malicious tar archive write files outside the intended extraction directory on Windows by embedding a hardlink whose target uses a drive-relative path such as 'C:../target.txt'. The flaw triggers during ordinary tar.x() extraction, so any Node.js application that unpacks untrusted archives on Windows is exposed. Publicly available exploit code exists via the GitHub Security Advisory, though EPSS exploitation probability is very low (0.02%) and it is not listed in CISA KEV.
Path traversal in node-tar versions 7.5.7 and earlier allows local attackers to read and write arbitrary files outside the extraction directory by crafting malicious tar archives containing hardlinks that bypass extraction path validation. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability, which affects default extraction configurations in Node.js and related Tar implementations. The vulnerability has been patched in node-tar 7.5.8.
node-tar before version 7.5.7 contains a path traversal vulnerability where inconsistent path resolution between validation and execution logic allows attackers to bypass security checks and create hardlinks to arbitrary files outside the intended extraction directory. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability, affecting Node.js applications that process untrusted TAR archives. An attacker can craft a malicious TAR file to write to sensitive locations on the system.
Arbitrary file overwrite and symlink poisoning in the node-tar library (versions <= 7.5.2) lets a malicious tar archive escape its intended extraction root, even with the default-secure preservePaths=false setting. The flaw stems from missing sanitization of the linkpath on hardlink and symbolic-link entries, so absolute symlink targets and hardlinks can redirect writes outside the extraction directory when a victim application unpacks attacker-supplied archives. Publicly available exploit code exists via the GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-8qq5-rm4j-mr97), though EPSS exploitation probability is very low (0.01%) and it is not listed in CISA KEV; the issue is fixed in 7.5.3.
The tar-rs library versions 0.4.44 and below contain a symlink-following vulnerability in the unpack_dir function that allows attackers to modify permissions on arbitrary directories outside the extraction root. An attacker can craft a malicious tarball containing a symlink entry followed by a directory entry with the same name; when unpacked, the library follows the symlink and applies chmod to the target directory rather than validating it resides within the extraction root. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.1 with network accessibility and low attack complexity, making it exploitable by remote attackers without privileges or special user interaction beyond accepting a crafted archive.
node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js.
Symlink poisoning via race condition in node-tar up to version 7.5.3 allows attackers to exploit Unicode normalization on case-insensitive filesystems like macOS APFS, where the path reservation system fails to serialize operations on colliding paths. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability, enabling concurrent processing that bypasses internal safeguards. Node.js users and applications depending on vulnerable tar versions should update immediately, as attackers can leverage this to manipulate file operations during archive extraction.
GNU Tar through 1.35 allows file overwrite via directory traversal in crafted TAR archives, with a certain two-step process. First, the victim must extract an archive that contains a ../ symlink to a critical directory. Second, the victim must extract an archive that contains a critical file, specified via a relative pathname that begins with the symlink name and ends with that critical file's name. Here, the extraction follows the symlink and overwrites the critical file. This bypasses the protection mechanism of "Member name contains '..'" that would occur for a single TAR archive that attempted to specify the critical file via a ../ approach. For example, the first archive can contain "x -> ../../../../../home/victim/.ssh" and the second archive can contain x/authorized_keys. This can affect server applications that automatically extract any number of user-supplied TAR archives, and were relying on the blocking of traversal. This can also affect software installation processes in which "tar xf" is run more than once (e.g., when installing a package can automatically install two dependencies that are set up as untrusted tarballs instead of official packages). NOTE: the official GNU Tar manual has an otherwise-empty directory for each "tar xf" in its Security Rules of Thumb; however, third-party advice leads users to run "tar xf" more than once into the same directory.
node-tar is a Tar for Node.js. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.18, 5.0.10, and 6.1.9 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.18, 5.0.10, and 6.1.9 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.16, 5.0.8, and 6.1.7 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
An issue was discovered in the tar crate before 0.4.36 for Rust. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 6.1.1, 5.0.6, 4.4.14, and 3.3.2 has a arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite vulnerability due to insufficient absolute path sanitization. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 6.1.2, 5.0.7, 4.4.15, and 3.2.3 has an arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite vulnerability via insufficient symlink protection. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
A flaw was found in the src/list.c of tar 1.33 and earlier. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Memory Leak vulnerability could allow attackers to exhaust available memory leading to denial of service.
pax_decode_header in sparse.c in GNU Tar before 1.32 had a NULL pointer dereference when parsing certain archives that have malformed extended headers. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). Public exploit code available.
Directory traversal vulnerability in the safer_name_suffix function in GNU tar 1.14 through 1.29 might allow remote attackers to bypass an intended protection mechanism and write to arbitrary files. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and EPSS exploitation probability 11.1%.
Arbitrary file overwrite in node-tar before 7.5.10 lets a malicious tar archive write files outside the intended extraction directory on Windows by embedding a hardlink whose target uses a drive-relative path such as 'C:../target.txt'. The flaw triggers during ordinary tar.x() extraction, so any Node.js application that unpacks untrusted archives on Windows is exposed. Publicly available exploit code exists via the GitHub Security Advisory, though EPSS exploitation probability is very low (0.02%) and it is not listed in CISA KEV.
Path traversal in node-tar versions 7.5.7 and earlier allows local attackers to read and write arbitrary files outside the extraction directory by crafting malicious tar archives containing hardlinks that bypass extraction path validation. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability, which affects default extraction configurations in Node.js and related Tar implementations. The vulnerability has been patched in node-tar 7.5.8.
node-tar before version 7.5.7 contains a path traversal vulnerability where inconsistent path resolution between validation and execution logic allows attackers to bypass security checks and create hardlinks to arbitrary files outside the intended extraction directory. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability, affecting Node.js applications that process untrusted TAR archives. An attacker can craft a malicious TAR file to write to sensitive locations on the system.
Arbitrary file overwrite and symlink poisoning in the node-tar library (versions <= 7.5.2) lets a malicious tar archive escape its intended extraction root, even with the default-secure preservePaths=false setting. The flaw stems from missing sanitization of the linkpath on hardlink and symbolic-link entries, so absolute symlink targets and hardlinks can redirect writes outside the extraction directory when a victim application unpacks attacker-supplied archives. Publicly available exploit code exists via the GitHub Security Advisory (GHSA-8qq5-rm4j-mr97), though EPSS exploitation probability is very low (0.01%) and it is not listed in CISA KEV; the issue is fixed in 7.5.3.
The tar-rs library versions 0.4.44 and below contain a symlink-following vulnerability in the unpack_dir function that allows attackers to modify permissions on arbitrary directories outside the extraction root. An attacker can craft a malicious tarball containing a symlink entry followed by a directory entry with the same name; when unpacked, the library follows the symlink and applies chmod to the target directory rather than validating it resides within the extraction root. This vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.1 with network accessibility and low attack complexity, making it exploitable by remote attackers without privileges or special user interaction beyond accepting a crafted archive.
node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js.
Symlink poisoning via race condition in node-tar up to version 7.5.3 allows attackers to exploit Unicode normalization on case-insensitive filesystems like macOS APFS, where the path reservation system fails to serialize operations on colliding paths. Public exploit code exists for this vulnerability, enabling concurrent processing that bypasses internal safeguards. Node.js users and applications depending on vulnerable tar versions should update immediately, as attackers can leverage this to manipulate file operations during archive extraction.
GNU Tar through 1.35 allows file overwrite via directory traversal in crafted TAR archives, with a certain two-step process. First, the victim must extract an archive that contains a ../ symlink to a critical directory. Second, the victim must extract an archive that contains a critical file, specified via a relative pathname that begins with the symlink name and ends with that critical file's name. Here, the extraction follows the symlink and overwrites the critical file. This bypasses the protection mechanism of "Member name contains '..'" that would occur for a single TAR archive that attempted to specify the critical file via a ../ approach. For example, the first archive can contain "x -> ../../../../../home/victim/.ssh" and the second archive can contain x/authorized_keys. This can affect server applications that automatically extract any number of user-supplied TAR archives, and were relying on the blocking of traversal. This can also affect software installation processes in which "tar xf" is run more than once (e.g., when installing a package can automatically install two dependencies that are set up as untrusted tarballs instead of official packages). NOTE: the official GNU Tar manual has an otherwise-empty directory for each "tar xf" in its Security Rules of Thumb; however, third-party advice leads users to run "tar xf" more than once into the same directory.
node-tar is a Tar for Node.js. Rated medium severity (CVSS 6.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.18, 5.0.10, and 6.1.9 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.18, 5.0.10, and 6.1.9 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.16, 5.0.8, and 6.1.7 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.6), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
An issue was discovered in the tar crate before 0.4.36 for Rust. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and no vendor patch available.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 6.1.1, 5.0.6, 4.4.14, and 3.3.2 has a arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite vulnerability due to insufficient absolute path sanitization. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 6.1.2, 5.0.7, 4.4.15, and 3.2.3 has an arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite vulnerability via insufficient symlink protection. Rated high severity (CVSS 8.1), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Path Traversal vulnerability could allow attackers to access files and directories outside the intended path.
A flaw was found in the src/list.c of tar 1.33 and earlier. Rated low severity (CVSS 3.3), this vulnerability is no authentication required, low attack complexity. This Memory Leak vulnerability could allow attackers to exhaust available memory leading to denial of service.
pax_decode_header in sparse.c in GNU Tar before 1.32 had a NULL pointer dereference when parsing certain archives that have malformed extended headers. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity.
GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c). Rated medium severity (CVSS 4.7). Public exploit code available.
Directory traversal vulnerability in the safer_name_suffix function in GNU tar 1.14 through 1.29 might allow remote attackers to bypass an intended protection mechanism and write to arbitrary files. Rated high severity (CVSS 7.5), this vulnerability is remotely exploitable, no authentication required, low attack complexity. Public exploit code available and EPSS exploitation probability 11.1%.