CVE-2018-20482

MITRE NVD CVE.ORG JSON API Print: PDF PDF

Summary

CVECVE-2018-20482
StatePUBLISHED
Assignermitre
Source PriorityCVE Program / NVD first with legacy fallback
Published2018-12-26 18:29:00 UTC
Updated2026-10-14 07:16:43 UTC
DescriptionGNU 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).

Risk And Classification

Primary CVSS: v3.1 4.7 MEDIUM from [email protected]

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

Problem Types: CWE-835 | n/a

VersionSourceTypeScoreSeverityVector
3.1[email protected]Primary4.7MEDIUMCVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H
2.0[email protected]Primary1.9AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

CVSS v3.1 Breakdown

Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
High
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

CVSS v2.0 Breakdown

Access Vector
Local
Access Complexity
Medium
Authentication
None
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Partial

AV:L/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:N/A:P

NVD Known Affected Configurations (CPE 2.3)

TypeVendorProductVersionUpdateEditionLanguage
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 8.0 All All All
Operating System Debian Debian Linux 9.0 All All All
Application Gnu Tar All All All All
Operating System Opensuse Leap 15.0 All All All

Vendor Declared Affected Products

SourceVendorProductVersionPlatforms
CNA Na N/a affected n/a Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU 1518F-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified
ADP Siemens SIPLUS S7-1500 CPU 1518-4 PN/DP MFP affected V3.1.0 V3.1.5 custom Not specified

References

ReferenceSourceLinkTags
cert-portal.siemens.com/productcert/html/ssa-398330.html 0b142b55-0307-4c5a-b3c9-f314f3fb7c5e cert-portal.siemens.com
Chris Siebenmann na Twitterze: "Current status: I just confirmed a bug in GNU Tar that causes our backups to hang every so often if we're unlucky. As usual I'm half-dreading the experience of trying to report the bug." af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 twitter.com Patch, Third Party Advisory
tar.git - GNU Tar af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 git.savannah.gnu.org Patch, Third Party Advisory
GNU Tar CVE-2018-20482 Denial of Service Vulnerability af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 www.securityfocus.com Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
[security-announce] openSUSE-SU-2019:1237-1: moderate: Security update f af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.opensuse.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Chris's Wiki :: blog/sysadmin/TarFindingTruncateBug af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 utcc.utoronto.ca Patch, Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] [DLA 1623-1] tar security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
How I wound up finding a bug in GNU Tar | Hacker News af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 news.ycombinator.com Exploit, Third Party Advisory
[Bug-tar] GNU Tar with --sparse can loop endlessly if a file shrinks whi af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.gnu.org Third Party Advisory
[SECURITY] [DLA 2830-1] tar security update af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 lists.debian.org Mailing List, Third Party Advisory
Tar: Denial of Service (GLSA 201903-05) — Gentoo security af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108 security.gentoo.org Third Party Advisory
CVE Program record CVE.ORG www.cve.org canonical
NVD vulnerability detail NVD nvd.nist.gov canonical, analysis

Legacy QID Mappings

  • 178916 Debian Security Update for tar (DLA 2830-1)
  • 296092 Oracle Solaris 11.4 Support Repository Update (SRU) 7.1.4 Missing (CPUJAN2019)
  • 500682 Alpine Linux Security Update for tar
  • 504451 Alpine Linux Security Update for tar
  • 591406 Siemens SIMATIC S7-1500 CPU GNU/Linux subsystem Multiple Vulnerabilities (SSB-439005, ICSA-22-104-13)
  • 710193 Gentoo Linux Tar Denial of service Vulnerability (GLSA 201903-05)
  • 752108 SUSE Enterprise Linux Security Update for tar (SUSE-SU-2022:1548-1)

© CVE.report 2026

Use of this information constitutes acceptance for use in an AS IS condition. There are NO warranties, implied or otherwise, with regard to this information or its use. Any use of this information is at the user's risk. It is the responsibility of user to evaluate the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinion, advice or other content. EACH USER WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY consequences of his or her direct or indirect use of this web site. ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. This site will NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT or any other kind of loss.

CVE, CWE, and OVAL are registred trademarks of The MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. This site includes MITRE data granted under the following license.

Free CVE JSON API cve.report/api

CVE.report and Source URL Uptime Status status.cve.report