CVE-2026-42496 | Archive::Tar versions before 3.08 for Perl extract symlinks with attacker controlled targets outside the extraction directory

Archive::Tar versions before 3.08 for Perl extract symlinks with attacker controlled targets outside the extraction directory. _make_special_file() passes the tar header's linkname to symlink() without validating it against absolute paths or .. segments. The secure-extract mode check that guards regular file extraction does not cover the symlink target. A subsequent open through the extracted name reads or writes the attacker chosen path.

Published: 2026-05-26 Last update: 2026-05-28 Assigner: 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e Source: 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2026-42496 is rated Moderate Risk (42.3/100): CVSS Critical severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). 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-2026-42496

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 2026-06-01 0.02% 0.05% +0.03%
2 2026-05-26 — 0.02% —

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-42496

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.1 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N 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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 5.2 [email protected]
9.1 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N 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:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
 3.9 5.2 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-42496

GitHub Security Advisory for CVE-2026-42496

GHSA-8p37-q9qq-hgx8 · Severity: critical — Archive::Tar versions before 3.08 for Perl extract symlinks with attacker controlled targets...

OS Trackers for CVE-2026-42496

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2026-42496 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (perl), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): open 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2026-42496
ubuntu medium CVE-2026-42496 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (perl), 9 status rows across 9 suites (bionic, focal, jammy, noble, questing, resolute, trusty, upstream, xenial): needs-triage 9. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2026-42496

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-42496

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
archive::tar_project archive::tar < 3.08 cpe:2.3:a:archive\:\:tar_project:archive\:\:tar:*:*:*:*:*:perl:*:*

References for CVE-2026-42496

cvelogic Threat Intelligence