A TOCTOU (Time-of-Check Time-of-Use) vulnerability in GNU tar's incremental dumpdir 'X' rename handling allows a local attacker with write access to a directory being backed up to influence the restore process if the attacker has access to the system where the restore is being performed. During restoration, files or directories may be created, renamed or overwritten outside the intended extraction directory. This could lead to unauthorized file modification or, in some cases, privilege escalation. Exploitation does not require the attacker to modify or craft the archive, and standard backup and restore workflows—including extracting into a newly created directory without using the -P option do not mitigate the issue.
This vulnerability carries a MEDIUM severity rating with a CVSS v3.1 score of 4.4, requiring local system access to exploit but requires specific conditions to be met though user interaction is required requiring only low-level privileges . The vulnerability impacts integrity (unauthorized modifications), for affected systems. Impacting 3 products from gnu, from redhat, from redhat organizations running these solutions should prioritize assessment and patching.
Reported in 2026, this vulnerability emerged during an era marked by increased sophistication in supply chain attacks, cloud infrastructure vulnerabilities, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) security challenges. Security practices during this period emphasized zero-trust architectures, container security, and API protection.
2026-08-03T17:16:33.897
2026-08-21T13:16:55.253
Analyzed
CVSSv3.1: 4.4 (MEDIUM)
| Type | Vendor | Product | Version/Range | Vulnerable? |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Application | gnu | tar | 1.35 | Yes |
| Application | redhat | openshift_container_platform | 4.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | redhat | enterprise_linux | 8.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | redhat | enterprise_linux | 9.0 | Yes |
| Operating System | redhat | enterprise_linux | 10.0 | Yes |
SecUtils normalizes and enriches National Vulnerability Database (NVD) records by standardizing vendor and product identifiers, aggregating vulnerability metadata from both NVD and MITRE sources, and providing structured context for security teams. For gnu's affected products, we extract Common Platform Enumeration (CPE) data, Common Weakness Enumeration (CWE) classifications, CVSS severity metrics, and reference data to enable rapid vulnerability prioritization and asset correlation. This record contains no exploit code, proof-of-concept instructions, or attack methodologies—only defensive intelligence necessary for patch management, risk assessment, and security operations.