GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c) by modifying a file that is supposed to be archived by a different user's process (e.g., a system backup running as root).
Fix
Patch, vendor advisory and mitigation references on NVD 6
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://twitter.com/thatcks/status/1076166645708668928 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBug Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://twitter.com/thatcks/status/1076166645708668928 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBug Patch, Third Party Advisory
Every line above is quoted from NVD, CISA, Microsoft, the vendor's own advisory or DISA; nothing is generated.
Change history 1
- First seenCVSS 4.7 · gnu, debian, opensuseNVD modified 2026-10-14 07:16
Affected (CPE criteria) 4
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*cpe:2.3:o:opensuse:leap:15.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
References 21
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2018-12/msg00023.html Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00077.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106354 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00023.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00025.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18745431 Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-05 Third Party Advisory
- https://twitter.com/thatcks/status/1076166645708668928 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBug Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2018-12/msg00023.html Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00077.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106354 Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00023.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00025.html Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18745431 Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-05 Third Party Advisory
- https://twitter.com/thatcks/status/1076166645708668928 Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBug Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html