Vulnerability-Lookup

ubuntu-cve-2021-32803

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu

Published

2021-08-03 19:15

Modified

2025-09-08 16:47

Summary

Details

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. node-tar aims to guarantee that any file whose location would be modified by a symbolic link is not extracted. This is, in part, achieved by ensuring that extracted directories are not symlinks. Additionally, in order to prevent unnecessary stat calls to determine whether a given path is a directory, paths are cached when directories are created. This logic was insufficient when extracting tar files that contained both a directory and a symlink with the same name as the directory. This order of operations resulted in the directory being created and added to the node-tar directory cache. When a directory is present in the directory cache, subsequent calls to mkdir for that directory are skipped. However, this is also where node-tar checks for symlinks occur. By first creating a directory, and then replacing that directory with a symlink, it was thus possible to bypass node-tar symlink checks on directories, essentially allowing an untrusted tar file to symlink into an arbitrary location and subsequently extracting arbitrary files into that location, thus allowing arbitrary file creation and overwrite. This issue was addressed in releases 3.2.3, 4.4.15, 5.0.7 and 6.1.2.

Severity

8.2 (High)


                    
                      CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

8.1 (High)


                    
                      CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H

N/A (UNKNOWN)


                    
                      medium

References

URL

Type

	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-32803	REPORT
	https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1771	REPORT
	https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisori…	REPORT
	https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/9dbdeb6df8…	REPORT
	https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar	REPORT
	https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5283-1	ADVISORY
	https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-32803	REPORT

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "node-tar",
            "binary_version": "0.1.18-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTS",
        "name": "node-tar",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/node-tar@0.1.18-1ubuntu0.1~esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-infra-legacy/trusty"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "0.1.18-1",
        "0.1.18-1ubuntu0.1~esm1"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro: https://ubuntu.com/pro",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "node-tar",
            "binary_version": "4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS",
        "name": "node-tar",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/node-tar@4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-apps/focal"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "4.4.10+ds1-2",
        "4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "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. `node-tar` aims to guarantee that any file whose location would be modified by a symbolic link is not extracted. This is, in part, achieved by ensuring that extracted directories are not symlinks. Additionally, in order to prevent unnecessary `stat` calls to determine whether a given path is a directory, paths are cached when directories are created. This logic was insufficient when extracting tar files that contained both a directory and a symlink with the same name as the directory. This order of operations resulted in the directory being created and added to the `node-tar` directory cache. When a directory is present in the directory cache, subsequent calls to mkdir for that directory are skipped. However, this is also where `node-tar` checks for symlinks occur. By first creating a directory, and then replacing that directory with a symlink, it was thus possible to bypass `node-tar` symlink checks on directories, essentially allowing an untrusted tar file to symlink into an arbitrary location and subsequently extracting arbitrary files into that location, thus allowing arbitrary file creation and overwrite. This issue was addressed in releases 3.2.3, 4.4.15, 5.0.7 and 6.1.2.",
  "id": "UBUNTU-CVE-2021-32803",
  "modified": "2025-09-08T16:47:10Z",
  "published": "2021-08-03T19:15:00Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-32803"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1771"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-r628-mhmh-qjhw"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/9dbdeb6df8e9dbd96fa9e84341b9d74734be6c20"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar"
    },
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5283-1"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-32803"
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "USN-5283-1"
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    },
    {
      "score": "medium",
      "type": "Ubuntu"
    }
  ],
  "upstream": [
    "CVE-2021-32803"
  ]
}

CVE-2021-32803 (GCVE-0-2021-32803)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2021-08-03 19:05 – Updated: 2024-08-03 23:33

Title

Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning

Summary

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. `node-tar` aims to guarantee that any file whose location would be modified by a symbolic link is not extracted. This is, in part, achieved by ensuring that extracted directories are not symlinks. Additionally, in order to prevent unnecessary `stat` calls to determine whether a given path is a directory, paths are cached when directories are created. This logic was insufficient when extracting tar files that contained both a directory and a symlink with the same name as the directory. This order of operations resulted in the directory being created and added to the `node-tar` directory cache. When a directory is present in the directory cache, subsequent calls to mkdir for that directory are skipped. However, this is also where `node-tar` checks for symlinks occur. By first creating a directory, and then replacing that directory with a symlink, it was thus possible to bypass `node-tar` symlink checks on directories, essentially allowing an untrusted tar file to symlink into an arbitrary location and subsequently extracting arbitrary files into that location, thus allowing arbitrary file creation and overwrite. This issue was addressed in releases 3.2.3, 4.4.15, 5.0.7 and 6.1.2.

Severity

8.2 (High)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

CWE

CWE-22 - Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

Assigner

GitHub_M

References

6 references

URL	Tags
https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisori…	x_refsource_CONFIRM
https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/9dbdeb6df8…	x_refsource_MISC
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1771	x_refsource_MISC
https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar	x_refsource_MISC
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html	x_refsource_MISC
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/s…	x_refsource_CONFIRM

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version
npm	node-tar	Affected: < 3.2.3 Affected: >= 4.0.0, < 4.4.15 Affected: >= 5.0.0, < 5.0.7 Affected: >= 6.0.0, < 6.1.2

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
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          },
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            "url": "https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/9dbdeb6df8e9dbd96fa9e84341b9d74734be6c20"
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          },
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            "url": "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf"
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    ],
    "cna": {
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          "vendor": "npm",
          "versions": [
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      ],
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        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
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          "cvssV3_1": {
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          "url": "https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_MISC"
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          "url": "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html"
        },
        {
          "tags": [
            "x_refsource_CONFIRM"
          ],
          "url": "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf"
        }
      ],
      "source": {
        "advisory": "GHSA-r628-mhmh-qjhw",
        "discovery": "UNKNOWN"
      },
      "title": "Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning",
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        },
        "affects": {
          "vendor": {
            "vendor_data": [
              {
                "product": {
                  "product_data": [
                    {
                      "product_name": "node-tar",
                      "version": {
                        "version_data": [
                          {
                            "version_value": "\u003c 3.2.3"
                          },
                          {
                            "version_value": "\u003e= 4.0.0, \u003c 4.4.15"
                          },
                          {
                            "version_value": "\u003e= 5.0.0, \u003c 5.0.7"
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              "name": "https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar",
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              "url": "https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar"
            },
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              "url": "https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html"
            },
            {
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              "refsource": "CONFIRM",
              "url": "https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf"
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    "datePublished": "2021-08-03T19:05:12.000Z",
    "dateReserved": "2021-05-12T00:00:00.000Z",
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}

usn-5283-1

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu

Published

2022-02-11 14:43

Modified

2026-04-27 14:11

Summary

node-tar vulnerability

Details

It was discovered that Tar for Node.js did not properly sanitize path inputs. An attacker could possibly use this issue to read arbitrary files, resulting in a directory traversal attack.

References

URL

Type

	https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5283-1	ADVISORY
	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-32803	REPORT

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "database_specific": {
        "cves_map": {
          "cves": [
            {
              "id": "CVE-2021-32803",
              "severity": [
                {
                  "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N",
                  "type": "CVSS_V3"
                },
                {
                  "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H",
                  "type": "CVSS_V3"
                },
                {
                  "score": "medium",
                  "type": "Ubuntu"
                }
              ]
            }
          ],
          "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS"
        }
      },
      "ecosystem_specific": {
        "availability": "Available with Ubuntu Pro: https://ubuntu.com/pro",
        "binaries": [
          {
            "binary_name": "node-tar",
            "binary_version": "4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1"
          }
        ]
      },
      "package": {
        "ecosystem": "Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTS",
        "name": "node-tar",
        "purl": "pkg:deb/ubuntu/node-tar@4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1?arch=source\u0026distro=esm-apps/focal"
      },
      "ranges": [
        {
          "events": [
            {
              "introduced": "0"
            },
            {
              "fixed": "4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1"
            }
          ],
          "type": "ECOSYSTEM"
        }
      ],
      "versions": [
        "4.4.10+ds1-2",
        "4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "aliases": [],
  "details": "It was discovered that Tar for Node.js did not properly sanitize path inputs.\nAn attacker could possibly use this issue to read arbitrary files, resulting\nin a directory traversal attack.\n",
  "id": "USN-5283-1",
  "modified": "2026-04-27T14:11:27Z",
  "published": "2022-02-11T14:43:32Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/notices/USN-5283-1"
    },
    {
      "type": "REPORT",
      "url": "https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-32803"
    }
  ],
  "related": [],
  "schema_version": "1.7.0",
  "summary": "node-tar vulnerability",
  "upstream": [
    "UBUNTU-CVE-2021-32803"
  ]
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.

Action not permitted

ubuntu-cve-2021-32803

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu

CVE-2021-32803 (GCVE-0-2021-32803)

usn-5283-1

Vulnerability from osv_ubuntu

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