node-tar applies PAX size override to intermediary GNU long-name/long-link headers, causing tar parser interpretation differential (file smuggling)

Description

node-tar is a full-featured Tar for Node.js. Prior to 7.5.16, tar (node-tar) applies a PAX extended header's size= record (and other PAX overrides) to the next header entry of any type, including intermediary metadata headers such as a GNU long-name (L) or long-link (K) entry. Per POSIX pax, a PAX extended header (x) describes the next file entry, not the intermediary extension headers that may sit between the x header and the file it annotates. Because node-tar lets the PAX size override the byte length of an intervening L/K/x header, an attacker can desynchronize node-tar's stream cursor relative to every other mainstream tar implementation (GNU tar, libarchive/bsdtar, Python tarfile, and the now-fixed tar-rs / astral-tokio-tar). The result is a tar parser interpretation differential (CWE-436): a single crafted archive yields a different set of members under node-tar than under the reference tar tools. An attacker can use this to hide a member from one parser while it is visible to another, which defeats security tooling whose scanner and extractor disagree on archive contents (e.g. a malware/secret scanner that lists entries with one library while a downstream step extracts with another) This vulnerability is fixed in 7.5.16.

Scores

EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)

0.16% · top 95% of all CVEs (6 Nov 2026)

CISA SSVC

Exploitation: poc · Automatable: no · Technical impact: partial

The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Medium 6.9.

Weakness

• CWE-436: Interpretation Conflict (opens in a new tab)All about CWE-436 and its CVEs

Affected products

• isaacs · node-tar

  • affected < 7.5.16

Affected packages

From reviewed advisories of the GitHub Advisory Database.

• npmtarGHSA-vmf3-w455-68vh (opens in a new tab)

References (1)

• https://github.com/isaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-vmf3-w455-68vh (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMexploit

Sources

The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.

• CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
• CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
• NVD (opens in a new tab)
• FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
• OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
• GitHub Advisory GHSA-vmf3-w455-68vh (opens in a new tab)
• CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)

Badge for a README or a ticket

[![CVE-2026-53655](https://trackcve.app/badge/CVE-2026-53655.svg)](https://trackcve.app/cve/CVE-2026-53655)

Record last updated 23 Jun 2026, 16:09 UTC.