HighCVE-2026-24842

node-tar Vulnerable to Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via Hardlink Path Traversal (CVE-2026-24842)

Published 28.01.2026Last modified 07.09.2026Sources: Red Hat, BSI, OSV, CVE.org, Debian LTS

What is affected, what to do

node-tar,a Tar for Node.js, contains a vulnerability in versions prior to 7.5.7 where the security check for hardlink entries uses different path resolution semantics than the actual hardlink creation logic. This mismatch allows an attacker to craft a malicious TAR archive that bypasses path traversal protections and creates hardlinks to arbitrary files outside the extraction directory.

Update Isaacs Node-tar to version 7.5.7.

Affected: Isaacs Node-tar lt *..7.5.7
Fixed in: Isaacs Node-tar 7.5.7

Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

Metrics

8.2

Priority

XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

Source: NVD, CVSS v3

8.2

CVSS v3

Severity High on the scale from 0 to 10.

Source: Red Hat, BSI, OSV, CVE.org, Debian LTS

0.6 %

EPSS score

Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.

Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 48.9

Show all metrics

Severity: High
Priority (0–325) The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first? Read in glossary: 73.98 Methodology
Exploit maturity An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack. Read in glossary: no public PoC known
XIEM Effective CVSS XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command. Read in glossary: 8.2 Methodology
CVSS v3 CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions. Read in glossary: 8.2
EPSS score The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“. Read in glossary: 0.6 %; Low — model estimates < 1% exploitation likelihood.
EPSS percentile The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking. Read in glossary: 48.9; High — this CVE ranks above the median of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 36%).
KEV status The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching. Read in glossary: —
Published: 28.01.2026
CWE CWE is a catalogue of typical weakness types in software and hardware — such as flawed input validation, unsafe memory handling or poor authentication. Where a CVE names a concrete vulnerability in a concrete product, a CWE describes the underlying class of defect. Read in glossary: CWE-22, CWE-59

Detection rules

No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

Classification under NIS2 and CRA

Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

NIS2 NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management. Read in glossary: High technical severity: assess and remediate the vulnerability in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2 and document the decision.
CRA The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates. Read in glossary: From 11.12.2027, Annex I Part II CRA requires manufacturers of affected products with digital elements to handle vulnerabilities without delay and provide security updates.
ISO/IEC 27001 ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security. Read in glossary: Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

Description

Source: redhat_csaf, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), cvelistv5, NVD (NIST), CVE.org (MITRE), Debian LTS Advisories

Affected products

The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

Affected products
		Affected versions	Fixed in
isaacs	node-tar	`< 7.5.7`	`7.5.7`
isaacs	tar	`< 7.5.7`	`7.5.7`
npm	tar	`—`	—

Vendors and products

Affected operating systems

Affected operating systems

Linux	debian	node-tar	`bullseye`

Weakness classes (CWE)

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
Base
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
Entry at MITRE CWE-22
CWE-59Improper Link Resolution Before File Access ('Link Following')
Base
The product attempts to access a file based on the filename, but it does not properly prevent that filename from identifying a link or shortcut that resolves to an unintended resource.
Entry at MITRE CWE-59

References & sources

github.comisaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-34x7-hfp2-rc4vweb, x_refsource_CONFIRM
NVD (NIST)vuln/detail/CVE-2026-24842advisory
github.comisaacs/node-tar/commit/f4a7aa9bc3d717c987fdf1480ff7a64e87ffdb46web, x_refsource_MISC
github.comisaacs/node-tarpackage
access.redhat.comsecurity/cve/CVE-2026-24842Vulnerability database, x_refsource_REDHAT
bugzilla.redhat.comRHBZ#2433645Issue tracking, x_refsource_REDHAT
security.access.redhat.comdata/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-24842.jsonx_sadp-csaf-vex
access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:33371Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:18480Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:18868Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:2900Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:6192Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT
access.redhat.comerrata/RHSA-2026:5447Vendor advisory, x_refsource_REDHAT

Changes to this CVE

Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

07.09.2026Record modifiedGitHub

New references:

Show 6 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Reference	added	—	https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/commit/f4a7aa9bc3d717c987fdf1480ff7a64e87ffdb46
Reference	added	—	https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-34x7-hfp2-rc4v
Reference	removed	https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/commit/f4a7aa9bc3d717c987fdf1480ff7a64e87ffdb46	—
Reference	removed	https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-34x7-hfp2-rc4v	—
Reference type	removed	https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/commit/f4a7aa9bc3d717c987fdf1480ff7a64e87ffdb46 Types: Patch	—
Reference type	removed	https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-34x7-hfp2-rc4v Types: Exploit, Vendor Advisory	—

Source identifier: security-advisories@github.com

07.09.2026Record modifiedRed Hat ADP

New references:

and 5 more references

Show 19 original changes

Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
Type	Action	Before	After
Affected versions (publisher)	added	—	Affected value modified. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/24xxx/CVE-2026-24842.json">CVE-2026-24842</a>
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18480
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18868
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2900
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33371
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5447
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6192
Reference	added	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-24842
Reference	added	—	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2433645
Reference	added	—	https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-24842.json
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18480	—
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:18868	—
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:2900	—
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:33371	—
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:5447	—
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:6192	—
Reference	removed	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-24842	—
Reference	removed	https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2433645	—
Reference	removed	https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/2026/cve-2026-24842.json	—