CVE-2026-59875 node-tar: Uncaught Exception DoS via NUL byte in PAX path/linkpath records
A crafted tar archive with NUL bytes in PAX records causes an uncaught exception, crashing the application using the node-tar library.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- Available
What is CVE-2026-59875?
CVE-2026-59875 is a medium-severity denial of service vulnerability in isaacs node-tar, published on 8 Jul 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
node-tar is a tar archive manipulation library for Node.js. Prior to 7.5.17, node-tar does not strip NUL bytes from PAX path and linkpath records in src/pax.ts, allowing a crafted archive with values to reach fs.lstat or fs.open and terminate the process with an uncaught exception. This issue is fixed in version 7.5.17.
Weakness: CWE-248
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-59875?
2 open source packages ship an affected version, including tar.
| Package | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
tar npm | All versions | 7.5.17 |
tar npm | All versions | 7.5.17 |
How do I fix CVE-2026-59875?
Upgrade tar to 7.5.17 or later.
Upgrade, then put limits on request size, rate and nesting depth so one client cannot exhaust the service. More about Denial of service.
Is CVE-2026-59875 being exploited?
It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2026-59875 exists.
Sources
Also known as CLEANSTART-2026-JI77146, CLEANSTART-2026-UE74978, CLEANSTART-2026-XE70573, DEBIAN-CVE-2026-59875, ECHO-717c-df78-ae50, GHSA-gvwx-54wh-qm9j and 33 more.