CVE-2023-37478 | pnpm incorrectly parses tar archives relative to specification

pnpm is a package manager. It is possible to construct a tarball that, when installed via npm or parsed by the registry is safe, but when installed via pnpm is malicious, due to how pnpm parses tar archives. This can result in a package that appears safe on the npm registry or when installed via npm being replaced with a compromised or malicious version when installed via pnpm. This issue has been patched in version(s) 7.33.4 and 8.6.8.

Published: 2023-08-01 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2023-37478 is rated Moderate Risk (59/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.70%). 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-2023-37478

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 2026-05-28 1.59% 1.70% +0.11%
2 2026-04-26 1.40% 1.59% +0.19%
3 2026-03-12 — 1.40% —

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2023-37478

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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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:H)
Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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: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:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 1.6 5.9 [email protected]
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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: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: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:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2023-37478

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2023-37478

GHSA-5r98-f33j-g8h7 · Severity: high · Ecosystem: npm — pnpm incorrectly parses tar archives relative to specification

OS Trackers for CVE-2023-37478

vendor priority summary link
suse high — https://www.suse.com/security/cve/CVE-2023-37478/

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2023-37478

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
pnpm pnpm < 7.33.4 cpe:2.3:a:pnpm:pnpm:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*
pnpm pnpm >= 8.0.0, < 8.6.8 cpe:2.3:a:pnpm:pnpm:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*

References for CVE-2023-37478

cvelogic Threat Intelligence