CVE & CISA-KEV Catalog

CVE-2021-32803

HIGHEPSS 94th pctl
8.2
CVSS v3
NVD

Description

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.

How to fix

Remediation Available
node-tarDebian
Fixed in:6.0.5+ds1+~cs11.3.9-1+deb11u1CVE-2021-32803
Fixed in:6.1.7+~cs11.3.10-1CVE-2021-32803
Fixed in:6.1.7+~cs11.3.10-1CVE-2021-32803
Fixed in:6.1.7+~cs11.3.10-1CVE-2021-32803
node-tarUbuntu
Fixed in:4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1USN-5283-1

Remediation is compiled from vendor and distribution security advisories. Always confirm against the linked source for your exact version and platform.

CVSS v3 Vector

Exploitability

Attack VectorLocal
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionRequired
ScopeChanged

Impact

ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityNone

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

Exploit Intelligence

7.80%probability of exploitation in 30 days
94thpercentile

High risk: more likely to be exploited than 94% of all known CVEs.

References

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This product uses NVD data but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS scores courtesy of FIRST.org (https://www.first.org/epss). Source: CISA KEV Catalog. Data as of 2024-11-21.