tar: Bypassing the extract path name
Published Dec 9, 2016
7.5
HIGHCVSS 3.1
EPSS 15.75%
Description
Directory traversal vulnerability in the safer_name_suffix function in GNU tar 1.14 through 1.29 might allow remote attackers to bypass an intended protection mechanism and write to arbitrary files via vectors related to improper sanitization of the file_name parameter, aka POINTYFEATHER.
Affected products
No data.
- 1.14
- 1.15
- 1.15.1
- 1.15.90
- 1.15.91
- 1.16
- 1.16.1
- 1.17
- 1.18
- 1.19
- 1.20
- 1.21
- 1.22
- 1.23
- 1.24
- 1.25
- 1.26
- 1.27
- 1.27.1
- 1.28
- 1.29
No data.
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
star
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5
tar
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
star
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
tar
Will not fix
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
star
Not affected
Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
tar
Will not fix
| Product | Package | State | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | star | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 | tar | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | star | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | tar | Will not fix | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | star | Not affected | n/a |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7 | tar | Will not fix | n/a |
No package ranges for this CVE.
Remediation
Red Hat statement
Red Hat Product Security has rated this issue as having Moderate security impact, a future update may address this flaw. This issue did not affect the versions of star as shipped with Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5, 6, and 7.
Red Hat mitigation
Use the "star" utility provided by the "star" package to process archives from untrusted sources.
Metrics
No CVSS v4.0 score for this CVE.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
This CVE is not in the KEV list.
CISA SSVC (Vulnrichment)
Stakeholder-Specific Vulnerability Categorization from CISA ADP.
Exploitation
PoCAutomatable
YesTechnical Impact
PartialDecision
n/aAssessed Aug 6, 2025 · SSVC 2.0.3
Estimated probability of exploitation in the wild in the next 30 days (FIRST EPSS). As of Oct 1, 2026.
Score over time
2022–2026- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Percentile over time
- EPSS v2
- EPSS v3
- EPSS v4
- EPSS v5
Table of values (29 key points)
Flat stretches are collapsed; showing up to 120 newest points.
| Date | Score | Percentile | Model |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 2026 | 15.75% (0.15745) | 96.77th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 22, 2026 | 15.75% (0.15745) | 96.71th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 21, 2026 | 14.14% (0.14141) | 96.47th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 20, 2026 | 15.75% (0.15745) | 96.71th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 6, 2026 | 15.15% (0.15155) | 96.51th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Sep 5, 2026 | 13.61% (0.13609) | 96.27th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 30, 2026 | 15.15% (0.15155) | 96.49th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 28, 2026 | 13.61% (0.13609) | 96.25th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 24, 2026 | 15.15% (0.15155) | 96.47th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Aug 23, 2026 | 13.61% (0.13609) | 96.24th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| Jun 15, 2026 | 15.15% (0.15155) | 96.31th | v5 (v2026.06.15) |
| May 29, 2026 | 14.26% (0.14261) | 94.51th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| May 22, 2026 | 18.58% (0.18579) | 95.35th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jan 18, 2026 | 11.25% (0.11255) | 93.29th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Aug 14, 2025 | 12.72% (0.12725) | 93.71th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Aug 9, 2025 | 16.35% (0.16352) | 94.57th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Aug 7, 2025 | 9.79% (0.09785) | 92.64th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 13, 2025 | 16.35% (0.16352) | 94.55th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Jul 5, 2025 | 11.43% (0.11435) | 93.25th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 30, 2025 | 6.84% (0.06845) | 90.45th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 29, 2025 | 11.36% (0.11363) | 89.22th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Mar 17, 2025 | 6.84% (0.06845) | 90.67th | v4 (v2025.03.14) |
| Dec 12, 2024 | 0.48% (0.00485) | 76.80th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Feb 8, 2024 | 0.48% (0.00485) | 75.28th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 15, 2023 | 0.48% (0.00485) | 72.28th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 7, 2023 | 0.50% (0.00496) | 72.54th | v3 (v2023.03.01) |
| Mar 6, 2023 | 2.17% (0.02172) | 80.77th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Apr 1, 2022 | 2.17% (0.02172) | 78.91th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
| Feb 4, 2022 | 2.17% (0.02172) | 57.73th | v2 (v2022.01.01) |
References (17)
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=7340f67b9860ea0531c1450e5aa261c50f67165d x_refsource_CONFIRMIssue TrackingPatch
- http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2016-10/msg00016.html mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTMailing ListVendor Advisory
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139370/GNU-tar-1.29-Extract-Pathname-Bypass.html x_refsource_MISCExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Oct/102 mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISCMailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
- http://seclists.org/fulldisclosure/2016/Oct/96 mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISCMailing ListThird Party Advisory
- http://www.debian.org/security/2016/dsa-3702 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIAN
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/93937 vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
- http://www.ubuntu.com/usn/USN-3132-1 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTU
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2016-6321 Vendor Advisory
- https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=1318562 Issue Tracking
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- https://lists.apache.org/thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E mailing-listx_refsource_MLIST
- https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2016-6321
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201611-19 vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOO
- https://sintonen.fi/advisories/tar-extract-pathname-bypass.proper.txt x_refsource_MISCThird Party Advisory
- https://sintonen.fi/advisories/tar-extract-pathname-bypass.txt
- https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2016-6321
Change history (0)
No recorded changes yet.