Description
node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js. Prior to 7.5.16, tar (node-tar) applies a PAX extended header's size= record (and other PAX overrides) to the next header entry of any type, including intermediary metadata headers such as a GNU long-name (L) or long-link (K) entry. Per POSIX pax, a PAX extended header (x) describes the next file entry, not the intermediary extension headers that may sit between the x header and the file it annotates. Because node-tar lets the PAX size override the byte length of an intervening L/K/x header, an attacker can desynchronize node-tar's stream cursor relative to every other mainstream tar implementation (GNU tar, libarchive/bsdtar, Python tarfile, and the now-fixed tar-rs / astral-tokio-tar). The result is a tar parser interpretation differential (CWE-436): a single crafted archive yields a different set of members under node-tar than under the reference tar tools. An attacker can use this to hide a member from one parser while it is visible to another, which defeats security tooling whose scanner and extractor disagree on archive contents (e.g. a malware/secret scanner that lists entries with one library while a downstream step extracts with another) This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.16.
Published: 2026-06-22
Score: 6.9 Medium
EPSS: < 1% Very Low
KEV: No
Impact: n/a
Action: n/a
AI Analysis

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Remediation

No vendor fix or workaround currently provided.

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Tracking

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Advisories
Source ID Title
Github GHSA Github GHSA GHSA-vmf3-w455-68vh node-tar applies PAX size override to intermediary GNU long-name/long-link headers, causing tar parser interpretation differential (file smuggling)
History

Fri, 10 Jul 2026 00:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Weaknesses CWE-115
References
Metrics threat_severity

None

 cvssV3_1

{'score': 6.1, 'vector': 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:N'}

threat_severity

Moderate

Wed, 24 Jun 2026 20:15:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
First Time appeared Isaacs
Isaacs tar
Vendors & Products Isaacs
Isaacs tar

Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Metrics ssvc

{'options': {'Automatable': 'no', 'Exploitation': 'poc', 'Technical Impact': 'partial'}, 'version': '2.0.3'}

Mon, 22 Jun 2026 15:45:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
Description node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js. Prior to 7.5.16, tar (node-tar) applies a PAX extended header's size= record (and other PAX overrides) to the next header entry of any type, including intermediary metadata headers such as a GNU long-name (L) or long-link (K) entry. Per POSIX pax, a PAX extended header (x) describes the next file entry, not the intermediary extension headers that may sit between the x header and the file it annotates. Because node-tar lets the PAX size override the byte length of an intervening L/K/x header, an attacker can desynchronize node-tar's stream cursor relative to every other mainstream tar implementation (GNU tar, libarchive/bsdtar, Python tarfile, and the now-fixed tar-rs / astral-tokio-tar). The result is a tar parser interpretation differential (CWE-436): a single crafted archive yields a different set of members under node-tar than under the reference tar tools. An attacker can use this to hide a member from one parser while it is visible to another, which defeats security tooling whose scanner and extractor disagree on archive contents (e.g. a malware/secret scanner that lists entries with one library while a downstream step extracts with another) This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.16.
Title node-tar applies PAX size override to intermediary GNU long-name/long-link headers, causing tar parser interpretation differential (file smuggling)
Weaknesses CWE-436
References
Metrics cvssV4_0

{'score': 6.9, 'vector': 'CVSS:4.0/AV:L/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:H/VA:N/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N'}

Subscriptions

Isaacs Tar
cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: GitHub_M

Published:

Updated: 2026-06-23T16:09:06.835Z

Reserved: 2026-06-09T20:50:36.876Z

Link: CVE-2026-53655

cve-icon Vulnrichment

Updated: 2026-06-23T14:15:27.771Z

cve-icon NVD

No data.

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Moderate

Publid Date: 2026-06-22T14:55:50Z

Links: CVE-2026-53655 - Bugzilla

cve-icon OpenCVE Enrichment

Updated: 2026-07-17T03:00:04Z

Weaknesses