CVE-2026-42496: Archive::tar Project Archive::tar

Critical severity, CVSS 9.1. EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days.

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.

Affected products

Published 2026-05-26. Last modified 2026-07-24.