Is CVE-2026-59875 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-59875 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-59875?

Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.3, published 8 July 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

tar (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.5.17.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-59875?

Yes. tar (npm): upgrade to 7.5.17 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.

How is CVE-2026-59875 attacked?

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

Am I affected by CVE-2026-59875?

Check whether you run tar (npm) 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-2026-59875: node-tar denial of service via NUL byte in PAX records

CVE-2026-59875 · Severity: medium · CVSS 5.3 · Published 2026-07-08

A vulnerability in the node-tar library, which is widely used to extract compressed archive files, allows an attacker to crash the application by providing a specially crafted tarball. This occurs because the library fails to handle certain hidden characters (NUL bytes) in file paths, leading to an unrecoverable error that bypasses standard error-handling code. This can result in a denial-of-service, causing automated build pipelines, backup services, or web applications to stop functioning.

Technologies: tar (npm). Vendors: npm.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-59875 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-59875 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-59875?: Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 5.3, published 8 July 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: tar (npm) SEMVER:introduced=0,fixed=7.5.17.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-59875?: Yes. tar (npm): upgrade to 7.5.17 or later. Junglewise finds every place you run it, drafts the upgrade and applies it once you approve.
How is CVE-2026-59875 attacked?: It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-59875?: Check whether you run tar (npm) 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 7.5.17 or later
```
npm install tar@7.5.17
```

Technical details

The node-tar library fails to sanitize NUL bytes in PAX ('x' typeflag) extended headers for 'path' and 'linkpath' records in `src/pax.ts`. When these unsanitized strings are passed to Node.js core file system functions like `fs.lstat()` or `fs.open()`, Node.js throws an `ERR_INVALID_ARG_VALUE` exception. Because this throw occurs within an internal async callback chain, it surfaces as an `uncaughtException` that terminates the process, bypassing user-level `try/catch` or `await` error handling. Additionally, this creates a parser differential (CWE-436) where other tools like GNU tar truncate at the NUL byte while node-tar retains the full string, potentially bypassing security validators. The issue is fixed in version 7.5.17.

Affected products

isaacs (node-tar) tar <= 7.5.16

Identifiers

CVE-2026-59875
GHSA-gvwx-54wh-qm9j

Timeline

2026-06-23: disclosed: Vulnerability verified against version 7.5.16
2026-06-25: advisory: GitHub Advisory published
2026-07-20: advisory: CVE published

References

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