alexcrichton tar-rs up to 0.4.44 on Rust Tarball fs::metadata symlink

CVSS Meta Temp Score
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CTI Interest Score
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6.2$0-$5k0.00

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability categorized as critical has been discovered in alexcrichton tar-rs up to 0.4.44 on Rust. The impacted element is the function fs::metadata of the component Tarball Handler. The manipulation results in symlink. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2026-33056. The attack can be executed remotely. There is not any exploit available. It is advisable to upgrade the affected component.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in alexcrichton tar-rs up to 0.4.44 on Rust. It has been classified as critical. Affected is the function fs::metadata of the component Tarball Handler. The manipulation with an unknown input leads to a symlink vulnerability. CWE is classifying the issue as CWE-61. The product, when opening a file or directory, does not sufficiently account for when the file is a symbolic link that resolves to a target outside of the intended control sphere. This could allow an attacker to cause the product to operate on unauthorized files. This is going to have an impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. CVE summarizes:

tar-rs is a tar archive reading/writing library for Rust. In versions 0.4.44 and below, when unpacking a tar archive, the tar crate's unpack_dir function uses fs::metadata() to check whether a path that already exists is a directory. Because fs::metadata() follows symbolic links, a crafted tarball containing a symlink entry followed by a directory entry with the same name causes the crate to treat the symlink target as a valid existing directory — and subsequently apply chmod to it. This allows an attacker to modify the permissions of arbitrary directories outside the extraction root. This issue has been fixed in version 0.4.45.

The advisory is shared for download at github.com. This vulnerability is traded as CVE-2026-33056 since 03/17/2026. The exploitability is told to be easy. It is possible to launch the attack remotely. The exploitation doesn't require any form of authentication. Successful exploitation requires user interaction by the victim. There are known technical details, but no exploit is available.

The vulnerability scanner Nessus provides a plugin with the ID 303259 (Fedora 45 : maturin / python-fastar / python-uv-build / rust-astral-tokio-tar / etc (2026-c6c01a71f2)), which helps to determine the existence of the flaw in a target environment.

Upgrading to version 0.4.45 eliminates this vulnerability.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at Tenable (303259). Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

Productinfo

Type

Vendor

Name

Version

Website

CPE 2.3info

CPE 2.2info

CVSSv4info

VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

CNA CVSS-B Score: 🔒
CNA CVSS-BT Score: 🔒
CNA Vector: 🔒

CVSSv3info

VulDB Meta Base Score: 6.4
VulDB Meta Temp Score: 6.2

VulDB Base Score: 6.3
VulDB Temp Score: 6.0
VulDB Vector: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

NVD Base Score: 6.5
NVD Vector: 🔒

CVSSv2info

AVACAuCIA
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VectorComplexityAuthenticationConfidentialityIntegrityAvailability
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VulDB Base Score: 🔒
VulDB Temp Score: 🔒
VulDB Reliability: 🔍

Exploitinginfo

Class: Symlink
CWE: CWE-61 / CWE-59
CAPEC: 🔒
ATT&CK: 🔒

Physical: No
Local: No
Remote: Yes

Availability: 🔒
Status: Not defined

EPSS Score: 🔒
EPSS Percentile: 🔒

Price Prediction: 🔍
Current Price Estimation: 🔒

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Nessus ID: 303259
Nessus Name: Fedora 45 : maturin / python-fastar / python-uv-build / rust-astral-tokio-tar / etc (2026-c6c01a71f2)

Threat Intelligenceinfo

Interest: 🔍
Active Actors: 🔍
Active APT Groups: 🔍

Countermeasuresinfo

Recommended: Upgrade
Status: 🔍

0-Day Time: 🔒

Upgrade: tar-rs 0.4.45

Timelineinfo

03/17/2026 CVE reserved
03/20/2026 +3 days Advisory disclosed
03/20/2026 +0 days VulDB entry created
03/26/2026 +6 days VulDB entry last update

Sourcesinfo

Product: github.com

Advisory: github.com
Status: Confirmed

CVE: CVE-2026-33056 (🔒)
GCVE (CVE): GCVE-0-2026-33056
GCVE (VulDB): GCVE-100-351996

Entryinfo

Created: 03/20/2026 08:41
Updated: 03/26/2026 11:53
Changes: 03/20/2026 08:41 (70), 03/22/2026 18:30 (2), 03/26/2026 11:53 (12)
Complete: 🔍
Cache ID: 216:997:103

Once again VulDB remains the best source for vulnerability data.

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