Description
GNU cpio contains a Path Traversal vulnerability in its tar archive extraction functionality. When extracting a tar archive in copy-in mode with the --no-absolute-filenames option, the extracted file name is normalized but the tar hard-link target is passed to the link_to_name function without equivalent sanitization before calling link function. A tar archive provided by an attacker, containing a hard-link entry whose linkname is set to an absolute path outside the extraction directory, can cause cpio to create a hard link to an existing file outside the intended extraction directory, breaking the expected guarantee of --no-absolute-filenames and allowing archive-controlled linkage to external files.
This issue has been fixed in commit e2b9cbdd3354d2b1569b7390d1bc15c1930559ad
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| GNU | cpio | ≤ 2.15 | — |
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 | cpio | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 13 | cpio | No fix yet | — |
| Debian 12 | cpio | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | cpio | 2.15+dfsg-2.1ubuntu0.1 | USN-8704-1 |
| Ubuntu 24.04 LTS | cpio | 2.15+dfsg-1ubuntu2.1 | USN-8704-1 |
| Ubuntu 22.04 LTS | cpio | 2.13+dfsg-7ubuntu0.2 | USN-8704-1 |
Show 4 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS | cpio | 2.13+dfsg-2ubuntu0.4+esm1 | USN-8704-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 18.04 LTS | cpio | 2.12+dfsg-6ubuntu0.18.04.4+esm1 | USN-8704-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 16.04 LTS | cpio | 2.11+dfsg-5ubuntu1.1+esm2 | USN-8704-1 |
| Ubuntu Pro 14.04 LTS | cpio | 2.11+dfsg-1ubuntu1.2+esm3 | USN-8704-1 |
Red Hat
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Red Hat Hardened Images 1 | cpio | 2.15-10.1.hum1 | RHSA-2026:54508 |
SUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES 15 SP7 | cpio | 2.13-150400.3.10.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4012-1 |
| SLES 12 SP5 | cpio | 2.11-36.25.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:3959-1 |
Show 8 more (older releases, extended support, other products)Fewer releases
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| SLES for SAP 16.0 | cpio | 2.15-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23612-1 |
| SLES 16.0 | cpio | 2.15-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23612-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.2 | cpio | 2.15-160000.3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23464-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.1 | cpio | 2.15-slfo.1.1_3.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23355-1 |
| SLE Micro 6.0 | cpio | 2.15-2.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:23441-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.5 | cpio | 2.13-150400.3.10.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4012-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.4 | cpio | 2.13-150400.3.10.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4012-1 |
| SLE Micro 5.3 | cpio | 2.13-150400.3.10.1 | SUSE-SU-2026:4012-1 |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | cpio | 2.15-8.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11618-1 |
| openSUSE Leap 16.0 | cpio | 2.15-160000.3.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:21747-1 |
Azure Linux
| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Azure Linux 3 | cpio | 2.14-2 | — |
Advisories 11
- WID-SEC-2026-2722 cpio: Mehrere Schwachstellen BSI CERT-Bund (WID) · Oct 13, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:23612-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 29, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:23464-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 14, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:23441-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 14, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:4012-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 13, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:3959-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 13, 2026
- SUSE-SU-2026:23355-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 10, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:21747-1 Security update for cpio SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Sep 9, 2026
- RHSA-2026:54508 Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update Red Hat Security Advisories (RHSA) · Sep 7, 2026
- USN-8704-1 cpio vulnerabilities Ubuntu Security Notices (USN) · Sep 1, 2026
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11618-1 cpio-2.15-8.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 28, 2026
References
- https://cert.pl/en/posts/2026/08/CVE-2026-66484 third-party-advisory
- https://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/cpio.git product