CVE-2021-37713

Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite on Windows via insufficient relative path sanitization

Description

The npm package "tar" (aka node-tar) before versions 4.4.18, 5.0.10, and 6.1.9 has an arbitrary file creation/overwrite and arbitrary code execution vulnerability. node-tar aims to guarantee that any file whose location would be outside of the extraction target directory is not extracted. This is, in part, accomplished by sanitizing absolute paths of entries within the archive, skipping archive entries that contain `..` path portions, and resolving the sanitized paths against the extraction target directory. This logic was insufficient on Windows systems when extracting tar files that contained a path that was not an absolute path, but specified a drive letter different from the extraction target, such as `C:some\path`. If the drive letter does not match the extraction target, for example `D:\extraction\dir`, then the result of `path.resolve(extractionDirectory, entryPath)` would resolve against the current working directory on the `C:` drive, rather than the extraction target directory. Additionally, a `..` portion of the path could occur immediately after the drive letter, such as `C:../foo`, and was not properly sanitized by the logic that checked for `..` within the normalized and split portions of the path. This only affects users of `node-tar` on Windows systems. These issues were addressed in releases 4.4.18, 5.0.10 and 6.1.9. The v3 branch of node-tar has been deprecated and did not receive patches for these issues. If you are still using a v3 release we recommend you update to a more recent version of node-tar. There is no reasonable way to work around this issue without performing the same path normalization procedures that node-tar now does. Users are encouraged to upgrade to the latest patched versions of node-tar, rather than attempt to sanitize paths themselves.

Category

8.2
CVSS
Severity: High
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 0.94% Top 25%
Third-Party Advisory siemens.com Third-Party Advisory github.com Third-Party Advisory npmjs.com Third-Party Advisory oracle.com
Affected: npm node-tar
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2021-37713?
CVE-2021-37713 has been scored as a high severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2021-37713?
To fix CVE-2021-37713, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2021-37713 being actively exploited in the wild?
As for now, there are no information to confirm that CVE-2021-37713 is being actively exploited. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~1% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
What software or system is affected by CVE-2021-37713?
CVE-2021-37713 affects npm node-tar.
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