Vulnerability in Archive\ \
CVE-2026-42497
Archive::Tar versions before 3.08 for Perl extract hardlinks to attacker controlled paths outside the extraction directory. _make_special_file() passes the tar header's linkname to link() without validating it against absolute paths or .. segments, creating a hardlink that shares the victim file's inode. A subsequent write through the extracted name modifies the victim file, and the post-extraction chmod, chown, and utime block in _extract_file() (guarded only against symlinks via -l) applies the tar header's mode, owner, and timestamps to the shared inode during extraction alone.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.5 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.005 (38.3th percentile), scored .
Very low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days; routine patching cadence is appropriate. 38th percentile — 38.3% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.004 · newest: 0.005 · change: +0.001
Affected products
- Archive\ \ — versions tar_project
- Archive\:\:tar Project
- Bingos Archive::tar — versions 0
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e (Patch, patch)
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e (release-notes, Release Notes)
- 9b29abf9-4ab0-4765-b253-1875cd9b441e (related, Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-42497?
- CVE-2026-42497 is a high-severity vulnerability in Archive\ \, classified under Improper Link Resolution Before File Access. CVSS score: 7.5/10. Published 2026-05-26.
- How severe is CVE-2026-42497?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.5 out of 10.