Description
A flaw was found in busybox. The tar applet's deferred link-creation handling for symlink and hardlink entries with unsafe-looking targets does not validate that the resolved destination remains inside the extraction directory once the deferred link is created. An attacker can craft a tar archive using a symlink target of exactly '..' combined with a deferred hardlink to create a new file outside the extraction directory, or reuse an extraction directory across two archives to replace an existing file outside it. If the archive is extracted with elevated privileges, this flaw can lead to privilege escalation or arbitrary code execution.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat | Red Hat Hardened Images | — | — |
| Red Hat | Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6 | — | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 13 | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | busybox | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 20.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | busybox | No fix yet | — |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | busybox +2 | 1:1.37.0-9.4.hum1 | RHSA-2026:81391 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | busybox | 1.38.0-4.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:12376-1 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | busybox | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 3
- RHSA-2026:81391 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Nov 13, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:12376-1 busybox-1.38.0-4.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Nov 2, 2026
- WID-SEC-2026-3853 BusyBox: Schwachstelle ermöglicht Codeausführung BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 12, 2026
References
- RHSA-2026:81391 vendor-advisory
- https://access.redhat.com/security/cve/CVE-2026-108119 vdb-entry
- RHBZ#2548611 issue-tracking