CVE Intelligence
Low Memory corruption

CVE-2021-20193 — Out-of-bounds Read and Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in tar

A flaw was found in the src/list.c of tar 1.33 and earlier. This flaw allows an attacker who can submit a crafted input file to tar to cause uncontrolled consumption of memory. The highest threat from this vulnerability is to system availability.

Published Mar 26, 2021 · Updated Oct 14, 2026 · Sources: NIST National Vulnerability Database, CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP, GitHub Security Advisories · CNA: redhat

Who exploits it and how urgent it is

A 0–100 score combining confirmed exploitation, ransomware and APT use, public exploits, EPSS and severity.

No exploitation signal in the sources consulted so far.
How the score was calculated
  • EPSS 1.1% (30-day exploitation probability)+10

The score orders the patch queue; it does not replace your asset context (internet exposure, criticality, compensating controls).

Triage

Is it exploited, how likely is exploitation, what does it touch, and how severe do the sources call it.

Exploitation
Not confirmed
Not in CISA KEV — an absence of record, not proof it is unexploited.
EPSS FIRST
1.09%
ahead of 65% of scored CVEs · Oct 14, 2026
Affects
Gnu
Tar
CVSS base
3.3
Low · 2 source(s)
Prioritization reference: 5.5 provisional

CISA SSVC assessment CISA

Three decision points CISA publishes for the CVEs it assesses (SSVC 2.0.3). A stakeholder decision, not a severity score.

Exploitation
None
none · proof-of-concept · active
Automatable
No
can an attacker script the kill-chain steps
Technical impact
Partial
partial · total control of the vulnerable component

Remediation

Fixes and mitigations documented by the sources — linked to the original advisory.

First 24 hours

Ordered from the record’s own fields — exposure first, because you cannot patch what you have not found. A rule-generated starting point.

  1. Identify exposed assets running the affected vendor/product/version combinations (Gnu Tar).
  2. Apply the fixed version or the patch documented under Remediation.
  3. Exploitation requires user interaction: tighten email/web filtering and warn affected users.
  4. Search available logs for exploit probes matching the vulnerability class (memory corruption), errors and authentication anomalies.

Affected scope

Vendor, product and versions as the sources word them.

VendorProductVersionsStatusSource
Gnu Tar ≤ 1.33 Vulnerable NIST National Vulnerability Database

Attack characteristics

The CVSS vector, decoded. It describes the attack, not your exposure to it.

Attack vector
Local
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

Every base score collected

Sources score independently and may disagree; each row says who scored it and under which version.

ScoreVersionSeverityExpl.ImpactScored by
5.5 CVSS 3.1 Medium — — GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories
3.3 CVSS 3.1 Low 1.8 1.4 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
4.3 CVSS 2.0 Medium 8.6 2.9 nvd@nist.gov via NIST National Vulnerability Database
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L (score shown at the top: nvd@nist.gov)
Sources disagree significantly and the divergence is under review. Every score is kept with its origin. For prioritization we use 5.5 (GitHub, Inc. via GitHub Security Advisories) as a conservative provisional reference — not a definitive official score.

Weakness MITRE

Weakness class according to MITRE’s CWE catalog.

CWE-125 · Out-of-bounds Read

Other CVEs with this weakness →

EPSS over time FIRST

Oct 13, 2026 → Oct 14, 2026 · 2 reading(s) · max 1.09%

Detection

Read off the CVSS vector and the weakness class. Starting points, not tested rules.

  • Local/physical vector: focus on endpoint telemetry (EDR) from affected hosts.
  • Correlate service crashes/restarts with inbound traffic; repeated crashes may indicate attempts.
endpoint telemetry (EDR)crash dumps

Timeline

What happened to this CVE, newest first.

  • 2026
  • Source status changed · Analyzed → Modified
    Oct 14, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • SSVC assessment updated
    Oct 13, 2026 · CVE Program (cve.org) e CISA ADP
  • Record published
    Oct 13, 2026
  • Fix documented
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • CVSS changed · 3.3
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Source status changed · → Analyzed
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • Record created in this database
    Oct 13, 2026 · NIST National Vulnerability Database
  • 2021
  • CVE published
    Mar 26, 2021 · redhat

Source activity

Repeated readings are counted rather than listed.

  • 2× References added · Oct 14, 2026 – Oct 14, 2026
  • 1× Official description updated · Oct 13, 2026 – Oct 13, 2026

References

7 on the record

Elsewhere on this site

Gnu
every CVE for this vendor
Memory corruption
same class
CWE-125
other pages naming this weakness

Related CVEs (same products)

  • CVE-2026-18477 TOCTOU Race Condition in Gnu Tar Aug 3, 2026
  • CVE-2026-18508 Link Following in Gnu Tar Aug 3, 2026
  • CVE-2026-5704 Tar: tar: hidden file injection via crafted archives Apr 6, 2026
  • CVE-2022-48303 GNU Tar through 1.34 has a one-byte out-of-bounds read that results in use of uninitialized... Jan 30, 2023
  • CVE-2019-9923 pax_decode_header in sparse.c in GNU Tar before 1.32 had a NULL pointer dereference when parsing... Mar 22, 2019
  • CVE-2018-20482 GNU Tar through 1.30, when --sparse is used, mishandles file shrinkage during read access, which... Dec 26, 2018

Not in any source we poll

Listed rather than left blank: an empty field and an unmeasured one look identical on screen, and only one is a reason to look elsewhere.

  • No confirmed IOCs, IP addresses, domains, file hashes, or malware artifacts supplied.
  • No organization-specific asset inventory, compensating-control status, or patch deployment evidence supplied.
  • No exploit packet captures, log samples, or incident case IDs supplied.

Answered from this record

Text assembled only from the fields above — no additional claims.

What should defenders know first?

CVE-2021-20193 is "Out-of-bounds Read and Missing Release of Memory after Effective Lifetime in tar", rated Low. It affects Tar (Gnu); versions are in the scope table. It is not in CISA KEV, which does not rule out exploitation. CVSS 3.3 describes technical severity. EPSS 1.09% estimates the probability of exploitation in 30 days; neither replaces your asset context. First verify whether exposed or business-critical assets run the affected versions, apply vendor fixes or mitigations, and preserve logs for review.

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