CVE-2022-26612: Arbitrary file write in FileUtil#unpackEntries on Windows

Severity: critical (CVSS 9.8 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 4.2% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2022-04-07 · updated 2026-06-17
Weakness: CWE-59

Description

In Apache Hadoop, The unTar function uses unTarUsingJava function on Windows and the built-in tar utility on Unix and other OSes. As a result, a TAR entry may create a symlink under the expected extraction directory which points to an external directory. A subsequent TAR entry may extract an arbitrary file into the external directory using the symlink name. This however would be caught by the same targetDirPath check on Unix because of the getCanonicalPath call. However on Windows, getCanonicalPath doesn't resolve symbolic links, which bypasses the check. unpackEntries during TAR extraction follows symbolic links which allows writing outside expected base directory on Windows. This was addressed in Apache Hadoop 3.2.3

Affected products

Apache Software Foundation Apache Hadoop: before 3.2.3; 3.3.1, 3.3.2 — fixed in 3.2.3

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Apache Software Foundation Apache Hadoop 3.2.3. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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