Is CVE-2026-23950 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-23950 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-23950?

High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 20 January 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

tar (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.5.4; Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream 9, 10.2.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-23950?

Yes. tar (npm): upgrade to 7.5.4 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-23950 attacked?

It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-23950?

Check whether you run tar (npm) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

CVE-2026-23950: node-tar race condition via Unicode path collision in path-reservations

CVE-2026-23950 · Severity: high · CVSS 8.8 · Published 2026-01-20

A security vulnerability exists in node-tar, a widely used library for handling compressed archive files in Node.js applications. On certain systems like macOS, the library fails to correctly identify when two different filenames actually point to the same file due to how it handles special Unicode characters. An attacker could use a specially crafted archive to trick the system into overwriting sensitive files or creating malicious links, potentially leading to unauthorized data modification or system compromise.

Technologies: tar (npm), Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream. Vendors: npm, Red Hat.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-23950 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-23950 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-23950?: High severity, with a CVSS score of 8.8, published 20 January 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: tar (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.5.4; Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream 9, 10.2.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-23950?: Yes. tar (npm): upgrade to 7.5.4 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-23950 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-23950?: Check whether you run tar (npm) or Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.

How to fix

tar (npm): upgrade to 7.5.4 or later
```
npm install tar@7.5.4
```

Technical details

A race condition exists in node-tar's 'path-reservations' system due to improper handling of Unicode normalization. On filesystems like macOS APFS, different Unicode representations (e.g., 'ß' and 'ss') can resolve to the same inode, but node-tar's internal locking mechanism treats them as distinct paths when using NFD normalization. This allows an attacker to provide a malicious tar archive with colliding paths that bypass concurrency safeguards. By processing these entries in parallel, an attacker can achieve symlink poisoning or arbitrary file overwrites. The vulnerability is addressed in version 7.5.4 by implementing more robust normalization (NFKD) and case-folding before path reservation.

Affected products

node-tar tar <= 7.5.3
Red Hat Enterprise Linux AppStream 9, 10.2
Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces 3.27

Identifiers

CVE-2026-23950
GHSA-r6q2-hw4h-h46w

Timeline

2026-01-19: advisory: GitHub Security Advisory published
2026-01-20: disclosed: NVD publication date
2026-05-19: patched: Red Hat security updates released

References

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