CVE-2019-9923

pax_decode_header in sparse.c in GNU Tar before 1.32 had a NULL pointer dereference when parsing certain archives that have malformed extended headers.

Published: 2019-03-22 Last update: 2025-08-06 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2019-9923 is rated Moderate Risk (51.1/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.40%). Review affected assets and schedule remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2019-9923

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-12 0.53% 0.40% -0.13%
2 2026-04-03 0.41% 0.53% +0.12%
3 2026-01-03 — 0.41% —

Full EPSS history (20 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2019-9923

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
7.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
7.5 3.0 HIGH
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:N)
Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:N)
Data isn’t meaningfully altered or forged.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 3.6 [email protected]
5.0 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N)
No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:N)
No integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 2.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2019-9923

OS Trackers for CVE-2019-9923

vendor priority summary link
alpine — CVE-2019-9923: 1 source package rows (tar); 10 state rows across 5 repos (3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, edge-main); fixed 0, open 10. https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2019-9923
debian unimportant CVE-2019-9923 unimportant priority: Debian including 1 source packages (tar), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2019-9923
redhat low — https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-9923
suse low CVE-2019-9923 severity low: SUSE including 317 source package names (0.23.1-12.3:tar-1.34-150000.3.12.1, 0.45.0.7.7.1:tar-1.30-3.3.2, …), 693 product×package rows across 405 product lines (Container bci/bci-sle15-kernel-module-devel, Container bci/kiwi, … (405 product lines)): Fixed 542, Known Affected 151. https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2019-9923/
ubuntu low CVE-2019-9923 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (tar), 12 status rows across 12 suites (bionic, cosmic, disco, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, trusty, upstream, xenial): released 6, ignored 5, not-affected 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2019-9923

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2019-9923

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
gnu tar < 1.32 cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
opensuse leap 15.0 cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2019-9923

cvelogic Threat Intelligence