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Fencer Vulns
high 8.2

CVE-2021-32803 json

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

published 2021-08-03 5 y ago modified 2026-07-08 4 mo ago also GHSA-r628-mhmh-qjhw , EUVD-2021-1856

cvss
8.2
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
7.8%
EPSS 7.8% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 94%
public exploits
0
none known

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.

Patch / fix

  • npm tar 3.2.3, 4.4.15, 5.0.7, 6.1.2
  • tar_project tar 3.2.3, 4.4.15, 5.0.7, 6.1.2
  • siemens sinec_infrastructure_network_services 1.0.1.1
  • node-tar Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 6.1.7+~cs11.3.10-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2021-32803

  • node-tar Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS 4.4.10+ds1-2ubuntu1+esm1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2021-32803

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

  • npm RHEL 8 1:6.14.14-1.14.17.5.1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58
  • nodejs RHEL 8 1:14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58
  • nodejs-nodemon RHEL 8 2.0.3-1.module+el8.3.0+6519+9f98ed83
  • nodejs-full-i18n RHEL 8 1:14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58
  • nodejs-packaging RHEL 8 23-3.module+el8.3.0+6519+9f98ed83
  • nodejs-packaging RHEL 8, RHEL 8.2 EUS, RHEL 8.1 EUS 17-3.module+el8.1.0+3369+37ae6a45
  • npm RHEL 8 1:6.14.14-1.12.22.5.1.module+el8.4.0+12242+af52a4c7
  • nodejs RHEL 8 1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12242+af52a4c7

red hat advisories RHSA-2021:3666RHSA-2021:3639RHSA-2021:3638RHSA-2021:3623RHSA-2021:3280RHSA-2021:3281

  • nodejs10 SLES for SAP 15 SP2, SLES for SAP 15 SP1, SLES for SAP 15 +18 more 10.24.1-150000.1.44.1
  • nodejs14 SLES for SAP 15 SP2, SLES 15 SP2-LTSS, SLES 15 SP2-BCL +7 more 14.19.0-15.27.1
  • nodejs8 SLES for SAP 15 SP2, SLES 15 SP2-LTSS, SLES 15 SP2-BCL +6 more 8.17.0-10.19.2
  • nodejs-common SLES for SAP 15 SP2, SLES for SAP 15 SP1, SLES for SAP 15 +16 more 2.0-3.4.1
  • nodejs12 SLES for SAP 15 SP2, SLES 15 SP2-LTSS, SLES 15 SP2-BCL +7 more 12.22.10-4.29.3
  • nodejs10 SLE Module for Web and Scripting 12 10.24.1-1.46.1
  • nodejs14 SLE Module for Web and Scripting 12 14.19.0-6.24.1
  • nodejs8 SLES for SAP 15 SP1, SLES for SAP 15, SLES 15-LTSS +7 more 8.17.0-3.54.2

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2022:1717-1SUSE-SU-2022:0715-1SUSE-SU-2022:0704-1SUSE-SU-2022:0657-1SUSE-SU-2022:0570-1SUSE-SU-2022:0569-1

  • nodejs14 openSUSE Leap 15.3 14.19.0-15.27.1
  • nodejs8 openSUSE Leap 15.3 8.17.0-10.19.2
  • nodejs12 openSUSE Leap 15.3 12.22.10-4.29.3

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2022:0715-1openSUSE-SU-2022:0704-1openSUSE-SU-2022:0657-1

  • nodejs-nodemon AlmaLinux 8 2.0.3-1.module_el8.4.0+2521+c668cc9f
  • nodejs-packaging AlmaLinux 8 23-3.module_el8.5.0+254+b4526b16
  • nodejs-packaging AlmaLinux 8 23-3.module_el8.4.0+2522+3bd42762
  • npm AlmaLinux 8 1:6.14.14-1.12.22.5.1.module_el8.4.0+2529+af52a4c7
  • npm AlmaLinux 8 1:6.14.14-1.12.22.5.1.module_el8.5.0+85+79a7b441
  • nodejs AlmaLinux 8 1:12.22.5-1.module_el8.4.0+2529+af52a4c7
  • nodejs AlmaLinux 8 1:12.22.5-1.module_el8.5.0+85+79a7b441
  • nodejs-full-i18n AlmaLinux 8 1:12.22.5-1.module_el8.5.0+85+79a7b441

almalinux advisories ALSA-2021:3666ALSA-2021:3623

  • nodejs Rocky Linux 8 1:14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+654+17ff1d38
  • nodejs-nodemon Rocky Linux 8 2.0.3-1.module+el8.6.0+982+9fdca2d4
  • nodejs-nodemon Rocky Linux 8 2.0.3-1.module+el8.3.0+100+234774f7
  • nodejs-nodemon Rocky Linux 8 2.0.3-1.module+el8.4.0+638+5344c6f7
  • nodejs-packaging Rocky Linux 8 23-3.module+el8.7.0+1071+4bdda2a8
  • nodejs-packaging Rocky Linux 8 23-3.module+el8.3.0+100+234774f7
  • nodejs-packaging Rocky Linux 8 23-3.module+el8.5.0+733+de4fee6c
  • nodejs Rocky Linux 8 1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.4.0+647+e905fa21

rocky linux advisories RLSA-2021:3666RLSA-2021:3623

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2021-32803 updated cvss 8.1

nodejs-tar: Insufficient symlink protection allowing arbitrary file creation and overwrite

  • Red Hat OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0 servicemesh-grafana, servicemesh-grafana-prometheus
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 rhacm2/grc-ui-rhel8, rhacm2/console-rhel8, rhacm2/search-ui-rhel8, rhacm2/console-ui-rhel8, rhacm2/mcm-topology-rhel8, rhacm2/console-header-rhel8, +1 more
    affected: no fix available “Fix deferred”
  • Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 openshift4/ose-grafana
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Openshift Container Storage 4 ocs4/mcg-core-rhel8
    affected: no fix available
  • Red Hat OpenShift GitOps openshift-gitops-1/argocd-rhel8
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) nodejs 12.22.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12242+af52a4c7, nodejs 14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58, nodejs-packaging 17-3.module+el8.1.0+3369+37ae6a45, nodejs-packaging 23-3.module+el8.3.0+6519+9f98ed83, nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-1.module+el8.3.0+6519+9f98ed83, nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-1.module+el8.4.0+11732+c668cc9f, +4 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:3623
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.1) nodejs 12.22.5-1.module+el8.1.0+12238+63fe3aec, nodejs-packaging 17-3.module+el8.1.0+3369+37ae6a45, nodejs-nodemon 1.18.3-1.module+el8.1.0+3369+37ae6a45, npm 6.14.14-1.12.22.5.1.module+el8.1.0+12238+63fe3aec, nodejs-full-i18n 12.22.5-1.module+el8.1.0+12238+63fe3aec
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:3639
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) nodejs 12.22.5-1.module+el8.2.0+12241+a3db445b, nodejs-packaging 17-3.module+el8.1.0+3369+37ae6a45, nodejs-nodemon 1.18.3-1.module+el8.1.0+3369+37ae6a45, npm 6.14.14-1.12.22.5.1.module+el8.2.0+12241+a3db445b, nodejs-full-i18n 12.22.5-1.module+el8.2.0+12241+a3db445b
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:3638
show 3 more
  • Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9 on RHEL-8 odf4/ocs-operator-bundle 4.9.0-5, odf4/odf-operator-bundle 4.9.0-5, odf4/odr-hub-operator-bundle 4.9.0-5, odf4/odr-cluster-operator-bundle 4.9.0-5, odf4/odf-multicluster-operator-bundle 4.9.0-5, odf4/cephcsi-rhel8 4.9-164.57484e3.release_4.9, +9 more
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:5086
  • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-nodejs12-nodejs 12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs 14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-npm 6.14.14-12.22.5.1.el7, rh-nodejs14-npm 6.14.14-14.17.5.1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-5.el7 Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7) rh-nodejs12-nodejs 12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs 14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-npm 6.14.14-12.22.5.1.el7, rh-nodejs14-npm 6.14.14-14.17.5.1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-5.el7 Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-nodejs12-nodejs 12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs 14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-npm 6.14.14-12.22.5.1.el7, rh-nodejs14-npm 6.14.14-14.17.5.1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-5.el7
    fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2021:3281
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2 rhacm2/application-ui-rhel8 Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8 npm, nodejs, nodejs-libs, nodejs-nodemon, nodejs-full-i18n, nodejs-packaging, +1 more Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9 npm, nodejs, nodejs-libs, nodejs-full-i18n Red Hat Fuse 7 tar-pack Red Hat OpenShift distributed tracing 2 rhosdt/jaeger-all-in-one-rhel8 Red Hat Quay 3 quay
    +3 more products
    Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-nodejs14-nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-5.el7 Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7) rh-nodejs14-nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-5.el7 Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-nodejs14-nodejs-nodemon 2.0.3-5.el7
    not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

7.80% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 94% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 8.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N
NVD 3.1 8.1 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
NVD 2.0 5.8 AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P
GitHub 3.1 8.2 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
npm tar
>=3.0.0, <3.2.3
>=4.0.0, <4.4.15
>=5.0.0, <5.0.7
>=6.0.0, <6.1.2
3.2.3
4.4.15
5.0.7
6.1.2

Affected products

  • npm node-tar

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory
  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access
  • CWE-23 Relative Path Traversal

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.