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TI-2021-12469 Aliases CVE-2021-32804GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9

Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite due to insufficient absolute path sanitization

Priority MEDIUM 51CWE-22Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Attack complexity
Low
Impact type
—
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · None
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 7 fixed, 5 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat.

Summary

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.

Why it matters now

EPSS 0.15067 96th percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial node-tar (npm): 3.2.2, 4.4.14, 5.0.6 +1tar (npm): 3.2.2, 4.4.14, 5.0.6 +1Red Hat: 8 advisoriesRed Hat: 7 fixed, 5 without a fix

SSVC decision points

Not available: CISA has not published SSVC decision points for this record.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
npmnode-tarbefore 3.2.2; 4.0.0 to before 4.4.14; 5.0.0 to before 5.0.6; 6.0.0 to before 6.1.13.2.2, 4.4.14, 5.0.6, 6.1.1Patch availableCNA
—tar (npm)before 3.2.23.2.2Patch availableGHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
—tar (npm)4.0.0 to before 4.4.144.4.14Patch availableGHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
—tar (npm)5.0.0 to before 5.0.65.0.6Patch availableGHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
—tar (npm)6.0.0 to before 6.1.16.1.1Patch availableGHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
  • node-tar Vendornpm Affected before 3.2.2; 4.0.0 to before 4.4.14; 5.0.0 to before 5.0.6; 6.0.0 to before 6.1.1 Fixed in 3.2.2, 4.4.14, 5.0.6, 6.1.1 Patch available CNA
  • tar (npm) Vendor— Affected before 3.2.2 Fixed in 3.2.2 Patch available GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
  • tar (npm) Vendor— Affected 4.0.0 to before 4.4.14 Fixed in 4.4.14 Patch available GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
  • tar (npm) Vendor— Affected 5.0.0 to before 5.0.6 Fixed in 5.0.6 Patch available GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9
  • tar (npm) Vendor— Affected 6.0.0 to before 6.1.1 Fixed in 6.1.1 Patch available GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9

CPE configurations NVD · 4

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:*before 3.2.2; 4.0.0 to before 4.4.14; 5.0.0 to before 5.0.6; 6.0.0 to before 6.1.1VulnerableTar Project
cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:20.3.3:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*20.3.3VulnerableOracle
cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:21.2.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:*21.2.0VulnerableOracle
cpe:2.3:a:siemens:sinec_infrastructure_network_services:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*before 1.0.1.1VulnerableSiemens
  • cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar:*:*:*:*:*:node.js:*:* Versions before 3.2.2; 4.0.0 to before 4.4.14; 5.0.0 to before 5.0.6; 6.0.0 to before 6.1.1 Vulnerable ·Tar Project
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:20.3.3:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:* Versions 20.3.3 Vulnerable ·Oracle
  • cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:21.2.0:*:*:*:enterprise:*:*:* Versions 21.2.0 Vulnerable ·Oracle
  • cpe:2.3:a:siemens:sinec_infrastructure_network_services:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions before 1.0.1.1 Vulnerable ·Siemens

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA node-tar (npm) Fixed in 3.2.2, 4.4.14, 5.0.6, 6.1.1
  • Fix · GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9 tar (npm) Fixed in 3.2.2 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9 tar (npm) Fixed in 4.4.14 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9 tar (npm) Fixed in 5.0.6 Advisory →
  • Fix · GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9 tar (npm) Fixed in 6.1.1 Advisory →

Red Hat 8 advisories

  • RHSA-2021:5086 Released 2021-12-13 · Red Hat rating Moderate
    Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 enhancement, security, and bug fix update
    • Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9 on RHEL-8 odf/odf-multicluster-rhel8-operator, odf4/cephcsi-rhel8, odf4/ocs-must-gather-rhel8 +12
  • RHSA-2021:4618 Released 2021-11-11 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management 2.4 images and security updates
    • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2.4 for RHEL 8 rhacm2/acm-grafana-rhel8, rhacm2/acm-must-gather-rhel8, rhacm2/acm-operator-bundle +47
  • RHSA-2021:3666 Released 2021-09-27 · Red Hat rating Important
    nodejs:14 security and bug fix update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) nodejs-1:14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58.aarch64::nodejs:14, nodejs-1:14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58.ppc64le::nodejs:14, nodejs-1:14.17.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12247+e2879e58.s390x::nodejs:14 +19
Show 5 more Red Hat advisories
  • RHSA-2021:3638 Released 2021-09-22 · Red Hat rating Important
    nodejs:12 security and bug fix update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2) nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.2.0+12241+a3db445b.aarch64::nodejs:12, nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.2.0+12241+a3db445b.ppc64le::nodejs:12, nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.2.0+12241+a3db445b.s390x::nodejs:12 +19
  • RHSA-2021:3639 Released 2021-09-22 · Red Hat rating Important
    nodejs:12 security and bug fix update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.1) nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.1.0+12238+63fe3aec.aarch64::nodejs:12, nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.1.0+12238+63fe3aec.ppc64le::nodejs:12, nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.1.0+12238+63fe3aec.s390x::nodejs:12 +19
  • RHSA-2021:3623 Released 2021-09-21 · Red Hat rating Important
    nodejs:12 security and bug fix update
    • Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8) nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12242+af52a4c7.aarch64::nodejs:12, nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12242+af52a4c7.ppc64le::nodejs:12, nodejs-1:12.22.5-1.module+el8.4.0+12242+af52a4c7.s390x::nodejs:12 +19
  • RHSA-2021:3280 Released 2021-08-26 · Red Hat rating Important
    rh-nodejs14-nodejs and rh-nodejs14-nodejs-nodemon security update
    • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-nodejs14-nodejs-14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs-devel-14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs-docs-14.17.5-1.el7 +2
    • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7) rh-nodejs14-nodejs-14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs-devel-14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs-docs-14.17.5-1.el7 +2
    • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-nodejs14-nodejs-14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs-devel-14.17.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs14-nodejs-docs-14.17.5-1.el7 +2
  • RHSA-2021:3281 Released 2021-08-26 · Red Hat rating Important
    rh-nodejs12-nodejs and rh-nodejs12-nodejs-nodemon security update
    • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) rh-nodejs12-nodejs-12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-devel-12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-docs-12.22.5-1.el7 +2
    • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7) rh-nodejs12-nodejs-12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-devel-12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-docs-12.22.5-1.el7 +2
    • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) rh-nodejs12-nodejs-12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-devel-12.22.5-1.el7, rh-nodejs12-nodejs-docs-12.22.5-1.el7 +2

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4AffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
Red Hat OpenShift GitOpsAffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Openshift Container Storage 4AffectedNo fix yet
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream (v. 8)Fixed RHSA-2021:3623, RHSA-2021:3666
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.1)Fixed RHSA-2021:3639
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream EUS (v. 8.2)Fixed RHSA-2021:3638
Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9 on RHEL-8Fixed RHSA-2021:5086
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2021:3280, RHSA-2021:3281
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7)Fixed RHSA-2021:3280, RHSA-2021:3281
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7)Fixed RHSA-2021:3280, RHSA-2021:3281
Not affected: 8 products
  • Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Fuse 7
  • Red Hat Quay 3
  • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7)
  • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 7.7)
  • Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7)

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2021-32804
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-3jfq-g458-7qm9

References

Patch 3

Advisory 4

Other 1

Sources

This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences