CVE-2018-20482
GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c) by modifying a file that is supposed to be archived…
Does this matter?
Lower severity and a low EPSS score (0.53%). Track it; it rarely justifies an emergency change on its own.
Description
GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c) by modifying a file that is supposed to be archived by a different user's process (e.g., a system backup running as root).
- CVSS 3.1
- 4.7 MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
- EPSS
- 0.53% probability · 45th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-835
- Affected
- gnu/tar · debian/debian linux · opensuse/leap
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 0.5% since 28 October 2026; no change recorded yet. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2018-12/msg00023.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00077.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106354Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00023.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00025.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18745431Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-05Third Party Advisory
- https://twitter.com/thatcks/status/1076166645708668928Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBugPatch, Third Party Advisory
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454Patch, Third Party Advisory
- http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2018-12/msg00023.htmlThird Party Advisory
- http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00077.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106354Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00023.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2021/11/msg00025.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18745431Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://security.gentoo.org/glsa/201903-05Third Party Advisory
- https://twitter.com/thatcks/status/1076166645708668928Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBugPatch, Third Party Advisory
- https://cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.