CVE-2025-6297: dpkg-deb: Fix cleanup for control member with restricted directories

Severity: high (CVSS 8.2 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.5% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: none known
Published: 2025-07-01 · updated 2026-07-08
Weakness: CWE-400

Description

It was discovered that dpkg-deb does not properly sanitize directory permissions when extracting a control member into a temporary directory, which is documented as being a safe operation even on untrusted data. This may result in leaving temporary files behind on cleanup. Given automated and repeated execution of dpkg-deb commands on adversarial .deb packages or with well compressible files, placed inside a directory with permissions not allowing removal by a non-root user, this can end up in a DoS scenario due to causing disk quota exhaustion or disk full conditions.

Affected products

Debian dpkg: before 1.22.21 — fixed in 1.22.21

How to fix

Upgrade to a fixed version: Debian dpkg 1.22.21. Check the vendor advisory for mitigations.

References

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