Path Traversal in Isaacs Node-Tar

CVE-2026-23745

node-tar is a Tar for Node.js. The node-tar library (<= 7.5.2) fails to sanitize the linkpath of Link (hardlink) and SymbolicLink entries when preservePaths is false (the default secure behavior). This allows malicious archives to bypass the extraction root restriction, leading to Arbitrary File Overwrite via hardlinks and Symlink Poisoning via absolute symlink targets. This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.3.

Vulnerability class: Path Traversal (Directory Traversal)

Published · last modified .

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.1 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:L/A:N.

EPSS exploit prediction

EPSS: 0.004 (30.1th percentile), scored .

Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 30th percentile — 30.1% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.

EPSS trend (30 days)EPSS over the last 30 days for CVE-2026-23745: held from 0.004 to 0.004.

EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.004 · change: -0.000

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-23745?
CVE-2026-23745 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Isaacs Node-Tar, classified under Path Traversal. CVSS score: 6.1/10. Published 2026-01-16.
How severe is CVE-2026-23745?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.1 out of 10.
Is CVE-2026-23745 known to be exploited?
3 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.