CVE-2026-33056

tar-rs: unpack_in can chmod arbitrary directories by following symlinks

MEDIUM
6.5
CVSS Score
Published: March 20, 2026 at 07:11 AM UTC
Updated: June 17, 2026 at 10:36 AM UTC
2 products affected across 2 vendorsTarTar Rs

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Severity
MEDIUM6.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

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.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 0.4.45
v < 0.4.45
Affected range stops below 0.4.45, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet. What the record does show:

References (2)

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatablePartial impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
NONE
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-61

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