CVE-2021-32804 [High] | Path Traversal in Tar

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.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-01-29	85.52%	84.98%	-0.53%
2	2025-11-21	16.95%	85.52%	+68.56%
3	2025-11-18	—	16.95%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-01-29

85.52%

84.98%

-0.53%

2025-11-21

16.95%

85.52%

+68.56%

2025-11-18

—

16.95%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.2	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:N` Click to expand Attack vector (AV:L) They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by. 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:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way. Integrity (I:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.8	5.8	[email protected]
8.1	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. 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:H) They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt. Availability (A:H) Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.	2.8	5.2	[email protected]
5.8	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:N) No authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:N) No confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	8.6	4.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

8.2

3.1

HIGH

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

Attack vector (AV:L): They already need access on the box, or another person has to do something wrong; it’s not a remote drive-by.
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:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.8

5.8

[email protected]

8.1

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/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:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
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:H): They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H): Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.

2.8

5.2

[email protected]

5.8

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:N): No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:N): No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

8.6

4.9

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-32804

vendor	priority	summary	link
`alpine`	high	CVE-2021-32804: 1 source package rows (tar); 38 state rows across 10 repos (3.11-main, 3.12-main, 3.17-main, 3.18-main, 3.19-main, 3.20-main, 3.21-main, 3.22-main, 3.23-main, edge-main); fixed 36, open 2.	https://security.alpinelinux.org/vuln/CVE-2021-32804
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2021-32804 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (node-tar), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5.	https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2021-32804
`redhat`	medium	—	https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-32804
`suse`	high	CVE-2021-32804 severity important: SUSE including 61 source package names (12-11.15:nodejs12-12.22.10-4.29.3, 12-11.15:npm12-12.22.10-4.29.3, …), 387 product×package rows across 34 product lines (Container bci/nodejs, SUSE CaaS Platform 4.0, … (34 product lines)): Fixed 367, Known Not Affected 20.	https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2021-32804/
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2021-32804 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (node-tar), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 8, ignored 7.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-32804

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-32804

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
tar_project	tar	< 3.2.2	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
tar_project	tar	>= 4.0.0, < 4.4.14	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
tar_project	tar	>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.6	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
tar_project	tar	>= 6.0.0, < 6.1.1	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
oracle	graalvm	20.3.3	cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:20.3.3::::enterprise:::
oracle	graalvm	21.2.0	cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:21.2.0::::enterprise:::
siemens	sinec_infrastructure_network_services	< 1.0.1.1	cpe:2.3:a:siemens:sinec_infrastructure_network_services::::::::

References for CVE-2021-32804

URL	Tags
https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/npm/node-tar/commit/1f036ca23f64a547bdd6c79c1a44bc62e8115da4	Patch Third Party Advisory
https://github.com/npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9	Mitigation Third Party Advisory
https://www.npmjs.com/advisories/1770	Mitigation Third Party Advisory
https://www.npmjs.com/package/tar	Product Third Party Advisory
https://www.oracle.com/security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html	Patch Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2021-32804 | Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite due to insufficient absolute path sanitization

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-32804

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-32804

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-32804

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2021-32804

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-32804

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-32804

References for CVE-2021-32804