CVE-2026-23745: A Deep Dive into the node-tar Arbitrary File Overwrite Vulnerability
CVE-2026-23745 is a high-severity path traversal flaw in node-tar (the tar library for Node.js). Versions ≤7.5.2 fail to sanitize linkpath in hardlink and symlink entries when preservePaths is false (default secure mode). Malicious tar archives bypass extraction root restrictions, enabling arbitrary file overwrite via hardlinks and symlink poisoning via absolute targets. Discovered January 2026, patched in 7.5.3. Impacts npm ecosystems, CI/CD pipelines, and apps extracting untrusted archives.