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CVE-2016-6321

32
FAUCET Score

CVE-2016-6321 is a directory traversal vulnerability affecting GNU tar versions 1.14 through 1.29. This flaw, dubbed POINTYFEATHER, allows remote attackers to bypass intended security mechanisms and write to arbitrary files due to improper sanitization of file names during extraction. With a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH), it presents a significant risk as it can be exploited remotely with low complexity and no user interaction, leading to high integrity impact. While there is no evidence of active exploitation, nor publicly available exploit code in Metasploit or ExploitDB, the vulnerability has garnered some community discussion, indicating awareness within the cybersecurity community.

Impacted Technologies

VendorProductVersion(s)CPE
1.14CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:1.14:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.15CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:1.15:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.15.1CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:1.15.1:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.15.90CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:1.15.90:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
1.15.91CPE matchmatch criteria
cpe:2.3:a:gnu:tar:1.15.91:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

CVSS Data

CVSS version used by this source: 3.0

7.5HIGH

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

Attack Vector
NETWORK
Attack Complexity
LOW
Privileges Required
NONE
User Interaction
NONE
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality Impact
NONE
Integrity Impact
HIGH
Availability Impact
NONE
Exploitability Score
3.9
Impact Score
3.6
CvssVersion
3.0

Exploit Intelligence

EPSS Score
15.15%
Probability of exploitation in next 30 days
EPSS Percentile
96.4%
Percentile rank of EPSS score among Peer Group
As of 2026-07-27
Model: v2026.06.15
This CVE's current EPSS score of 0.1515 is in the 95th percentile among its peer group of 51,506 CVEs.

Social Chatter

The average CVE in this peer group has 0.0 Twitter, 0.0 Reddit, 0.1 Bluesky, 0.1 Mastodon, and 0.4 GitHub mentions.

Media Mentions

No media coverage found for this CVE.

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

Remediation

Vendor Patches (3)

redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5Fixed in: tar
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6Fixed in: tar
redhatend of lifevia redhat_api
Product: Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7Fixed in: tar

Vendor Advisories (1)

redhatCVE-2016-6321Moderate

tar: Bypassing the extract path name

Oct 27, 2016

References

git.savannah.gnu.org / cgit/tar.git/commit
Issue TrackingPatch
lists.gnu.org / archive/html/bug-tar/2016-10/msg00016.html
Mailing ListVendor Advisory
packetstormsecurity.com / files/139370/GNU-tar-1.29-Extract-Pathname-Bypass.html
ExploitThird Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
seclists.org / fulldisclosure/2016/Oct/102
Mailing ListPatchThird Party Advisory
seclists.org / fulldisclosure/2016/Oct/96
Mailing ListThird Party Advisory
lists.apache.org / thread.html/r58af02e294bd07f487e2c64ffc0a29b837db5600e33b6e698b9d696b%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
lists.apache.org / thread.html/rf4c02775860db415b4955778a131c2795223f61cb8c6a450893651e4%40%3Cissues.bookkeeper.apache.org%3E
security.gentoo.org / glsa/201611-19
sintonen.fi / advisories/tar-extract-pathname-bypass.proper.txt
Third Party Advisory
debian.org / security/2016/dsa-3702
securityfocus.com / bid/93937
Third Party AdvisoryVDB Entry
ubuntu.com / usn/USN-3132-1