Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:NSummary
CVE-2026-26960 is a high-severity Path Traversal (CWE-22) vulnerability in Isaacs Tar. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 21th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2026-26960 affects node-tar, a full-featured Tar library for Node.js, in versions 7.5.7 and prior. The vulnerability allows an attacker-controlled archive to create a hardlink within the extraction directory that references a file outside the intended extraction root. This path traversal issue (CWE-22) bypasses standard protections, effectively turning archive extraction into a primitive for arbitrary filesystem read and write operations executed with the privileges of the extracting user. Published on 2026-02-20, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N), rated high severity.
A local attacker with low complexity can exploit this by tricking a user into extracting a malicious tar archive using default options. No privileges are required from the attacker, but user interaction is needed to initiate extraction. Successful exploitation grants high-impact confidentiality and integrity violations, such as reading sensitive files or overwriting arbitrary ones outside the extraction directory, without affecting availability.
The issue is addressed in node-tar version 7.5.8. Relevant GitHub resources include the security advisory at GHSA-83g3-92jg-28cx and fixing commits 2cb1120bcefe28d7ecc719b41441ade59c52e384 and d18e4e1f846f4ddddc153b0f536a19c050e7499f, which practitioners should review for patch details and upgrade guidance.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-8399
Vulnerability Data
node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js. When using default options in versions 7.5.7 and below, an attacker-controlled archive can create a hardlink inside the extraction directory that points to a file outside the extraction root, enabling arbitrary file read…
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and write as the extracting user. Severity is high because the primitive bypasses path protections and turns archive extraction into a direct filesystem access primitive. This issue has been fixed in version 7.5.8.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V5.3.2
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces the intended directory access authorizations that path traversal would otherwise bypass.
Input validation directly neutralizes special path elements before pathname construction occurs.
Least privilege reduces the impact of any unauthorized file access obtained via traversal.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Patching/maintenance can remediate known path-traversal flaws in deployed software (partial prevention of exploitability) but does nothing to stop the coding defect from being introduced in the first place.
PR.AA-05 defines and reviews access policies but does not address code-level pathname neutralization, so neither direction prevents CWE-22.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing in development catches path traversal via static/dynamic analysis.
Secure SDLC mandates input validation and path sanitization that directly prevent path traversal.
Application security requirements include rules for safe file handling and canonicalization.
Secure architecture principles require least-privilege file access and directory isolation.
Secure coding standards explicitly forbid unsafe path construction and mandate safe APIs.
Information access restriction limits which files an application may read or write.