GHSA-3pv8-6f4r-ffg2 json
tar has a PAX header desynchronization issue
published 5mo ago modified 2mo ago
- cvss
- —
- not scored
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- —
- no score, EPSS covers CVEs only
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
### Summary
When a tar stream contains multiple "header" entries prior to a file entry, tar-rs applies the PAX header (`x`) to the _next_ entry in the stream, regardless of type. For example, a stream of `x -> L -> file` (PAX, GNU longname, file) would result in `x`'s extensions being applied to `L` rather than to `file`.
[Per POSIX pax](https://pubs.opengroup.org/onlinepubs/9799919799/utilities/pax.html), this is incorrect: a PAX header always applies to a file entry, not any intermediary entries. See the "pax Header Block" section for the specific prescription there.
As a result of this, an attacker can contrive a tar containing a sequence of tar headers such that tar-rs applies the PAX header's `size` extension to the next header in sequence, effectively desynchronizing the stream and enabling tar-rs specific skippage/extraction of members. In other words, a file can be contrived to extract differently on tar-rs than on other tar parsers.
### PoC
[This tar](https://github.com/user-attachments/files/27141941/pax-overrides-extension-header.tar.zip) (zipped for size) demonstrates the desynchronization: with `tar tvf`:
``` % tar tvf tests/archives/pax-overrides-extension-header.tar ---------- 0 0 0 2048 Dec 31 1969 longname.txt ---------- 0 0 0 0 Dec 31 1969 file_b ```
with `tar-rs`:
``` ---- pax_size_does_not_apply_to_extension_headers stdout ----
thread 'pax_size_does_not_apply_to_extension_headers' (250476889) panicked at tests/all.rs:2121:27: called `Result::unwrap()` on an `Err` value: Custom { kind: Other, error: "numeric field was not a number: AAAAAAAA when getting cksum for AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" } note: run with `RUST_BACKTRACE=1` environment variable to display a backtrace ```
In the above case, the PoC is not weaponized, so it jumps into the middle of an entry and subsequently fails the checksum test rather than silently continuing with attacker-controlled archive state.
### Impact
This is very similar to GHSA-j5gw-2vrg-8fgx and GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 in impact -- an attacker can use this to extract (or not extract) files from a tar stream depending on the tar parser used, which in turn can be used to obscure the presence of malicious files.
Patch / fix
- crates.io tar 0.4.46
- github.com/composefs/tar-rs@bab14dd commit
- github.com/composefs/tar-rs#454 pull request
- github.com/composefs/tar-rs/releases/tag/0.4.46 release
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Check with FencerAffected packages
| ecosystem | package | affected | fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| crates.io | tar | <0.4.46 |
0.4.46 |
Classification
References
Sources
- GitHub Advisory GHSA-3pv8-6f4r-ffg2
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