CVE-2026-53600

async-tar PAX extension-header desync enables tar entry/content smuggling

MEDIUM
6.3
CVSS Score
Published: September 2, 2026 at 04:10 PM UTC
Updated: September 9, 2026 at 09:27 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorAsync Tar

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Severity
MEDIUM6.3
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
PoC

Description

async-tar is a tar archive reading/writing library for async Rust. Prior to version 0.6.1, async-tar mis-applies a buffered PAX size extension to an intermediary extension header (a GNU longname L, a GNU longlink K, or a PAX x/g header) instead of to the next file entry. POSIX requires a PAX extended-header record set to describe the next file entry, never an intervening extension header. Because poll_next_raw (src/archive.rs) threads the buffered PAX records into the size computation of whatever raw header it reads next — and that header can be an intermediary L — the stream cursor is advanced by an attacker-chosen amount when the L body is consumed. The parser then desyncs relative to a POSIX-correct tar parser (e.g. GNU tar), reading subsequent bytes at the wrong block boundary. This issue has been patched in version 0.6.1.

Affected

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

v < 0.6.1
Affected range stops below 0.6.1, so it looks safe — our inference, not a vendor statement

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCAutomatablePartial impact

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

CVSS

6.3MEDIUMGitHub_M
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusDEFERRED
CWE
CWE-20CWE-843

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