CVE-2026-42496 Path traversal in Archive::Tar
Attackers can extract symlinks pointing outside the target directory, allowing arbitrary file read or write operations via subsequent file access.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-42496?
CVE-2026-42496 is a critical path traversal vulnerability in BINGOS Archive::Tar, published on 26 May 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
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.
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-42496?
It affects 1 product.
Linux distribution packages (9)
perl-Archive-Tar AlmaLinux:10 | All versions | 3.02-512.el10_2.1 |
perl-Archive-Tar AlmaLinux:8 | All versions | 2.30-2.el8_10 |
perl-Archive-Tar AlmaLinux:9 | All versions | 2.38-6.el9_8.1 |
perl-Archive-Tar Red Hat:enterprise_linux:10.2 | All versions | 0:3.02-512.el10_2.1 |
perl-Archive-Tar Red Hat:enterprise_linux:8::baseos | All versions | 0:2.30-2.el8_10 |
perl-Archive-Tar Red Hat:enterprise_linux:9::appstream | All versions | 0:2.38-6.el9_8.1 |
perl-Archive-Tar Rocky Linux:10 | All versions | 0:3.02-512.el10_2.1 |
perl-Archive-Tar Rocky Linux:8 | All versions | 0:2.30-2.el8_10 |
perl-Archive-Tar Rocky Linux:9 | All versions | 0:2.38-6.el9_8.1 |
Products include Archive\ \.
How do I fix CVE-2026-42496?
Upgrade to a fixed version.
Upgrade, and resolve every user-supplied path against an allowed base folder before opening it. More about Path traversal.
Is CVE-2026-42496 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-42496 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Other vulnerabilities in BINGOS Archive::Tar
Sources
Also known as ALSA-2026:30852, ALSA-2026:30856, ALSA-2026:30857, AZL-89133, BELL-CVE-2026-42496, CLSA-2026-1783078093 and 13 more.