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).
History

Wed, 14 Oct 2026 07:30:00 +0000

Type Values Removed Values Added
References

cve-icon MITRE

Status: PUBLISHED

Assigner: mitre

Published: 2018-12-26T18:00:00.000Z

Updated: 2026-10-14T06:30:41.972Z

Reserved: 2018-12-26T00:00:00.000Z

Link: CVE-2018-20482

cve-icon Vulnrichment

No data.

cve-icon NVD

Status : Modified

Published: 2018-12-26T18:29:00.373

Modified: 2026-10-14T07:16:43.667

Link: CVE-2018-20482

cve-icon Redhat

Severity : Low

Publid Date: 2018-12-26T00:00:00Z

Links: CVE-2018-20482 - Bugzilla