CVE-2026-124745 Busybox: tar deferred hardlink target resolved through a deferred symlink escapes the extraction directory
A crafted tar archive can use deferred hardlink targets with symlinks to overwrite arbitrary files when extracted with BusyBox tar.
- 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
- Harmful if only installed
- No
- Needs a specific call
- No
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-124745?
CVE-2026-124745 is a medium-severity path traversal vulnerability in Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6, published on 11 Nov 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. When extracting an archive, the tar utility improperly resolves deferred hardlink targets across symbolic links pointing outside the intended extraction directory. An attacker could provide a specially crafted archive that links to sensitive files outside the extraction tree, allowing subsequent extraction operations to overwrite arbitrary files on the system.
Weakness: CWE-59
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-124745?
An affected version is exposed as installed. No special setting or call is needed.
How do I fix CVE-2026-124745?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-124745 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-124745 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-124745 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-h2jx-m6c2-wg9q, UBUNTU-CVE-2026-124745.