CVE-2026-59874

node-tar: Negative tar entry size causes infinite loop in archive replace

HIGH
7.5
CVSS Score
Published: July 8, 2026 at 03:23 PM UTC
Updated: October 25, 2026 at 05:10 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorTar

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Severity
HIGH7.5
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.4%
SSVC
PoC

Description

node-tar is a tar archive manipulation library for Node.js. Prior to 7.5.18, tar.replace accepts a checksum-valid tar header with a negative base-256 encoded entry size, causing the archive scanner to make no progress while repeatedly parsing the same header. This issue is fixed in version 7.5.18.

Affected

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

v < 7.5.18
Affected range stops below 7.5.18, 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 (3)

x_refsource_CONFIRMExploitVendor Advisory
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-8x88-c5mf-7j5w
x_refsource_MISCRelease Notes
Source: cverecord
https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/releases/tag/v7.5.18

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCAutomatablePartial 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
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
NONE
Integrity
NONE
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusANALYZED
CWE
CWE-835

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