CVE-2021-32803

29

FAUCET Score

CVE-2021-32803 is an arbitrary file creation/overwrite vulnerability in the npm package "tar" (node-tar), affecting versions prior to 6.1.2, 5.0.7, 4.4.15, and 3.2.3, as well as various Oracle and Siemens products utilizing this package. The vulnerability, rated 8.1 HIGH, allows an attacker to bypass symlink protection by first creating a directory and then replacing it with a symlink, enabling arbitrary file creation and overwrite. While there is no known active exploitation or public exploit code (Metasploit, Nuclei, ExploitDB), the vulnerability has garnered community discussion and media coverage, indicating awareness within the security community.

Impacted Technologies

Vendor	Product	Version(s)	CPE
		< 3.2.3CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
		>= 4.0.0, < 4.4.15CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
		>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.7CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
		>= 6.0.0, < 6.1.2CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:a:tar_project:tar::::::node.js::*
		20.3.3CPE matchmatch criteria	cpe:2.3:a:oracle:graalvm:20.3.3::::enterprise:::

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.1

8.2HIGH

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

Attack Vector

LOCAL

Attack Complexity

LOW

Privileges Required

NONE

User Interaction

REQUIRED

Scope

CHANGED

Confidentiality Impact

HIGH

Integrity Impact

HIGH

Availability Impact

NONE

Exploitability Score

1.8

Impact Score

5.8

CvssVersion

3.1

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score

7.80%

Probability of exploitation in next 30 days

EPSS Percentile

94.0%

Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group

As of 2026-07-27

Model: v2026.06.15

This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.0780 is in the 94th percentile among its peer group of 14,855 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.1 Reddit, 0.2 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.2 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.3 InfoSec Media, 0.0 Vendor Blog, and 0.1 Security Researcher mentions.

Remediation

Patch Available

Vendor Patches (42)

github_advisorypatch availablevia nvd_reference

npmpatch availablevia ghsa

Product: tarFixed in: 3.2.3

npmpatch availablevia ghsa

Product: tarFixed in: 4.4.15

npmpatch availablevia ghsa

Product: tarFixed in: 5.0.7

npmpatch availablevia ghsa

Product: tarFixed in: 6.1.2

oraclepatch availablevia nvd_reference

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/ocs-must-gather-rhel8:4.9-257.4181add.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/ocs-operator-bundle:4.9.0-5

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/ocs-rhel8-operator:4.9-257.4181add.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odf-console-rhel8:4.9-39.0f2fa23.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odf-multicluster-operator-bundle:4.9.0-5

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odf-multicluster-rhel8-operator:4.9-30.007b3d8.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odf-operator-bundle:4.9.0-5

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odf-rhel8-operator:4.9-59.c8bbc1f.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odr-cluster-operator-bundle:4.9.0-5

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odr-hub-operator-bundle:4.9.0-5

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/odr-rhel8-operator:4.9-27.3d037cc.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/rook-ceph-rhel8-operator:4.9-219.c3f67c6.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/volume-replication-rhel8-operator:4.9-28.82f68db.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf/odf-multicluster-rhel8-operator:4.9-30.007b3d8.release_4.9

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: rh-nodejs14-nodejs-0:14.17.5-1.el7

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: rh-nodejs12-nodejs-nodemon-0:2.0.3-5.el7

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.7 EUSFixed in: rh-nodejs14-nodejs-0:14.17.5-1.el7

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.7 EUSFixed in: rh-nodejs12-nodejs-0:12.22.5-1.el7

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7.7 EUSFixed in: rh-nodejs12-nodejs-nodemon-0:2.0.3-5.el7

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: rh-nodejs12-nodejs-0:12.22.5-1.el7

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Fixed in: nodejs:12-8040020210817133458.522a0ee4

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8Fixed in: nodejs:14-8040020210817165654.522a0ee4

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.1 Extended Update SupportFixed in: nodejs:12-8010020210817113128.c27ad7f8

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8.2 Extended Update SupportFixed in: nodejs:12-8020020210817125332.4cda2c84

redhatpatch availablevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Data Foundation 4.9.0 on RHEL-8Fixed in: odf4/cephcsi-rhel8:4.9-164.57484e3.release_4.9

redhatvendor investigatingvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/kui-web-terminal-rhel8

redhatvendor investigatingvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/mcm-topology-rhel8

redhatvendor investigatingvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/console-rhel8

redhatvendor investigatingvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/console-ui-rhel8

redhatvendor investigatingvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/console-header-rhel8

redhatno patchvia redhat_api

Product: OpenShift Service Mesh 2.0Fixed in: servicemesh-grafana

redhatno patchvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/grc-ui-rhel8

redhatno patchvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management for Kubernetes 2Fixed in: rhacm2/search-ui-rhel8

redhatno patchvia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat Openshift Container Storage 4Fixed in: ocs4/mcg-core-rhel8

redhatend of lifevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift GitOpsFixed in: openshift-gitops-1/argocd-rhel8

redhatend of lifevia redhat_api

Product: Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4Fixed in: openshift4/ose-grafana

Vendor Advisories (2)

npmGHSA-r628-mhmh-qjhwhigh

Arbitrary File Creation/Overwrite via insufficient symlink protection due to directory cache poisoning

redhatCVE-2021-32803Moderate

nodejs-tar: Insufficient symlink protection allowing arbitrary file creation and overwrite

References

cert-portal.siemens.com / productcert/pdf/ssa-389290.pdf

PatchThird Party Advisory

github.com / npm/node-tar/commit/9dbdeb6df8e9dbd96fa9e84341b9d74734be6c20

PatchThird Party Advisory

github.com / npm/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-r628-mhmh-qjhw

MitigationThird Party Advisory

npmjs.com / advisories/1771

MitigationThird Party Advisory

npmjs.com / package/tar

ProductThird Party Advisory

oracle.com / security-alerts/cpuoct2021.html

PatchThird Party Advisory