CVE-2018-20482

GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which allows local users to cause a denial of service (infinite read loop in sparse_dump_region in sparse.c) by modifying a file that is supposed to be archived by a different user's process (e.g., a system backup running as root).

CVSS 3.1

4.7CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H

EPSS

0.5% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days; higher than 44% of CVEs (scores of 2026-10-25)

CWE

CWE-835

Published

2018-12-26

Modified

2026-10-14

Record from

the NVD, synced 2026-10-19

Affected

• debian:debian_linux
• gnu:tar
• opensuse:leap

References

• http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=c15c42ccd1e2377945fd0414eca1a49294bff454
• http://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/bug-tar/2018-12/msg00023.html
• http://lists.opensuse.org/opensuse-security-announce/2019-04/msg00077.html
• http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106354
• https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2018/12/msg00023.html

Check your stackJSON