CVE-2026-5704: Tar: tar: hidden file injection via crafted archives

Severity: medium (CVSS 5.5 v3.1)
Exploited in the wild: not listed in CISA KEV
EPSS: 0.4% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days
Public exploit or detection template: yes
Published: 2026-04-06 · updated 2026-10-26
Weakness: CWE-434

Description

A flaw was found in tar. A remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious archive, leading to hidden file injection with fully attacker-controlled content. This bypasses pre-extraction inspection mechanisms, potentially allowing an attacker to introduce malicious files onto a system without detection.

Affected products

GNU Tar: all versions
Red Hat Enterprise Linux: 6.0, 7.0, 8.0, 9.0, 10.0
RedHat Hardened Images: all versions

References

https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61581
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61586
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:61783
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66018
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:66514
https://access.redhat.com/errata/RHSA-2026:70390
https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-5704
https://bugzilla.redhat.com/show_bug.cgi?id=2455360
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/11/10
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/11/11
http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2026/04/12/2

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