Ubuntu LinuxOperating system · Canonical
CVE-2007-4829
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedDirectory traversal vulnerability in the Archive::Tar Perl module 1.36 and earlier allows user-assisted remote attackers to overwrite arbitrary files via a TAR archive that contains a file whose name is an absolute path or has ".." sequences.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceThe Archive::Tar Perl module versions 1.36 and earlier contains a directory traversal vulnerability where malicious TAR archives can contain files with absolute paths or '..' sequences, allowing arbitrary file overwrite on the target system. This is a user-assisted attack requiring a victim to extract a specially crafted TAR archive.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Ubuntu LinuxOperating system
= 6.06= 7.10= 8.04= 8.10<= 1.36CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- M
- Authentication
- None
- Confidentiality
- Partial
- Integrity
- Partial
- Availability
- Partial
AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed Archive::Tar Perl module versionRun: perl -MArchive::Tar -e 'print $Archive::Tar::VERSION'Affected if Version returned is 1.36 or lower, or the module is not found (pre-1.36 versions)
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Verify Ubuntu distribution versionRun: lsb_release -r or check /etc/lsb-releaseAffected if Version shows 6.06, 7.10, 8.04, or 8.10 (these shipped with vulnerable Archive::Tar packages)
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Locate Perl scripts using Archive::Tar for extractionSearch codebase for 'use Archive::Tar' or 'Archive::Tar->new' patterns, then verify if they process archives from untrusted sources (user uploads, network downloads, email attachments)Affected if Code extracts TAR archives without validating paths (checking for absolute paths or '..' sequences) before writing files
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Audit extraction logic for path validationReview code that calls extract() or extract_archive() methods - verify it rejects entries with paths starting with '/' or containing '../'Affected if No path validation exists before extraction, allowing directory traversal
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Check for untrusted TAR archive processingIdentify any functionality that accepts TAR files from users or external sources and extracts them (web uploads, email handling, backup restore, file import features)Affected if The system processes TAR archives from untrusted sources using vulnerable Archive::Tar code
You are affected if Archive::Tar version 1.36 or lower is installed AND your system or applications extract TAR archives from untrusted sources without path validation.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor dataUpdate Archive::Tar to a version with the path traversal fix, or implement path validation to reject entries with absolute paths or '..' sequences before extraction from untrusted sources.
Fix this in Ubuntu Linux
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing8.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,656.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2007-4829 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2007-4829 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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