CVE-2026-55738
HIGH
8.8
CVSS 3.1
Description
A stack-based buffer overflow exists in the raw_to_header() function in src/microtar.c in rxi microtar 0.1.0. The function copies the 100-byte name and linkname fields of a TAR header with strcpy() without guaranteeing null termination of the source. The POSIX ustar format permits these fixed-width fields to be fully populated with non-null bytes, so a crafted archive whose linkname field (followed by the trailing padding of the 512-byte raw header) contains no null terminator causes strcpy() to read past the end of the 512-byte raw header stack buffer and to write past the destination header buffer. A remote attacker who supplies a crafted TAR archive that the victim opens or parses (via mtar_open(), mtar_read_header(), or mtar_find()) can cause an out-of-bounds read and a stack buffer overflow, resulting in denial of service (crash) and potentially arbitrary code execution. Confirmed with AddressSanitizer: stack-buffer-overflow READ of size 356 in raw_to_header at src/microtar.c:112.
Metadata
Severity & Metrics
8.8
HIGH CVSS 3.1
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
SSVC — CISA Coordinator
Affected products (1)
| Vendor | Product | Platform | Versions |
|---|---|---|---|
| rxi | microtar | — | 0.1.0 |
Weakness (CWE)
CVSS scores (2)
| Score | Severity | Version | Source | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8.8 | HIGH | 3.1 | cna | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
| 8.7 | HIGH | 4.0 | cna | CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:P/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N |
References (3)
- https://github.com/rxi/microtar/blob/master/src/microtar.c#L111
- https://github.com/rxi/microtar
- Vulnerable source code: src/microtar.c (raw_to_header) https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rxi/microtar/master/src/microtar.c