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Vulnerability details: VCID-a9w9-1d4p-vqau
Vulnerability ID VCID-a9w9-1d4p-vqau
Aliases CVE-2021-32804
GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
Summary Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') 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. node-tar aims to prevent extraction of absolute file paths by turning absolute paths into relative paths when the `preservePaths` flag is not set to `true`. This is achieved by stripping the absolute path root from any absolute file paths contained in a tar file. For example `/home/user/.bashrc` would turn into `home/user/.bashrc`. This logic was insufficient when file paths contained repeated path roots such as `////home/user/.bashrc`. `node-tar` would only strip a single path root from such paths. When given an absolute file path with repeating path roots, the resulting path (e.g. `///home/user/.bashrc`) would still resolve to an absolute path, thus allowing arbitrary file creation and overwrite. This issue was addressed in releases 3.2.2, 4.4.14, 5.0.6 and 6.1.1. Users may work around this vulnerability without upgrading by creating a custom `onentry` method which sanitizes the `entry.path` or a `filter` method which removes entries with absolute paths. See referenced GitHub Advisory for details. Be aware of CVE-2021-32803 which fixes a similar bug in later versions of tar.
Status Published
Exploitability 2.0
Weighted Severity 8.0
Risk 10.0
Affected and Fixed Packages Package Details
Weaknesses (4)
CWE-1035 OWASP Top Ten 2017 Category A9 - Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities
CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command ('OS Command Injection')
CWE-937 OWASP Top Ten 2013 Category A9 - Using Components with Known Vulnerabilities
System Score Found at
cvssv3 8.1 https://access.redhat.com/hydra/rest/securitydata/cve/CVE-2021-32804.json
epss 0.84982 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
epss 0.84982 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
epss 0.84982 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
epss 0.84982 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
epss 0.84982 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
epss 0.84982 https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf
generic_textual HIGH https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf
cvssv3.1 8.1 https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/yaml/suse-cvss-scores.yaml
cvssv3.1_qr HIGH https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://github.com/npm/node-tar
generic_textual HIGH https://github.com/npm/node-tar
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/1f036ca23f64a547bdd6c79c1a44bc62e8115da4
generic_textual HIGH https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/1f036ca23f64a547bdd6c79c1a44bc62e8115da4
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
cvssv3.1_qr HIGH https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
generic_textual HIGH https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32804
generic_textual HIGH https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32804
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1770
generic_textual HIGH https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1770
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar
generic_textual HIGH https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar
cvssv3.1 8.2 https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
generic_textual HIGH https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
Reference id Reference type URL
https://access.redhat.com/hydra/rest/securitydata/cve/CVE-2021-32804.json
https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2021-32804
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-32804
https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/yaml/suse-cvss-scores.yaml
https://github.com/npm/node-tar
https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/1f036ca23f64a547bdd6c79c1a44bc62e8115da4
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1770
https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
1990409 https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1990409
992111 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=992111
CVE-2021-32804 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32804
GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9 https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9 https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
RHSA-2021:3280 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:3280
RHSA-2021:3281 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:3281
RHSA-2021:3623 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:3623
RHSA-2021:3638 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:3638
RHSA-2021:3639 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:3639
RHSA-2021:3666 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:3666
RHSA-2021:5086 https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2021:5086
No exploits are available.
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H Found at https://access.redhat.com/hydra/rest/securitydata/cve/CVE-2021-32804.json
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

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unchanged

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H Found at https://ftp.suse.com/pub/projects/security/yaml/suse-cvss-scores.yaml
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://github.com/npm/node-tar
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

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physical

low

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none

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/1f036ca23f64a547bdd6c79c1a44bc62e8115da4
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

low

none
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

high

low

none

high

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none
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-32804
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

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low

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1770
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

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none

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

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low

none

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Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N Found at https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html
Attack Vector (AV) Attack Complexity (AC) Privileges Required (PR) User Interaction (UI) Scope (S) Confidentiality Impact (C) Integrity Impact (I) Availability Impact (A)

network

adjacent_network

local

physical

low

high

none

low

high

none

required

unchanged

changed

high

low

none

high

low

none

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low

none
Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)
Percentile 0.99343
EPSS Score 0.84982
Published At April 2, 2026, 12:55 p.m.
Date Actor Action Source VulnerableCode Version
2026-04-01T12:48:38.457850+00:00 GitLab Importer Import https://gitlab.com/gitlab-org/advisories-community/-/blob/main/npm/tar/CVE-2021-32804.yml 38.0.0