CVE-2026-108119 Busybox: busybox: tar extraction-root escape via deferred symlink/hardlink creation bypasses cve-2026-26158 fix
Attackers can escape extraction directories via crafted tar archives, leading to privilege escalation or code execution when extracted with elevated privileges.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Local or same network only
- Victim action needed
- A user has to click or open something
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-108119?
CVE-2026-108119 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, published on 9 Oct 2026. It can only be exploited from the same machine or local network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Official description
A flaw was found in busybox. The tar applet's deferred link-creation handling for symlink and hardlink entries with unsafe-looking targets does not validate that the resolved destination remains inside the extraction directory once the deferred link is created. An attacker can craft a tar archive using a symlink target of exactly '..' combined with a deferred hardlink to create a new file outside the extraction directory, or reuse an extraction directory across two archives to replace an existing file outside it. If the archive is extracted with elevated privileges, this flaw can lead to privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-108119?
How do I fix CVE-2026-108119?
Apply the vendor's patch.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-108119 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-108119 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as AZL-107963, BELL-CVE-2026-108119, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-108119, GHSA-v87q-pcjw-34hc, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-108119.