CVE-2016-6321
Directory traversal vulnerability in the safer_name_suffix function in GNU tar 1.14 through 1.29 might allow remote attackers to bypass an…
- 7.5HighCVSS base score
- 15.7%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 3.1% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- YesPublic exploitsa reference or SSVC says so
Description
Directory traversal vulnerability in the safer_name_suffix function in GNU tar 1.14 through 1.29 might allow remote attackers to bypass an intended protection mechanism and write to arbitrary files via vectors related to improper sanitization of the file_name parameter, aka POINTYFEATHER.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. CISA's SSVC rates its exploitation: a proof of concept is public.
Timeline
ID reserved
By redhat
- 5 months later
· 5 months later
Published
- 9 years later
· 9 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CISA-ADPADP (enrichment) | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | High7.5 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 15.7% · top 3.1% of all CVEs (9 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: poc · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: High 7.5.
Affected products
n/a
- affected n/a
References
12
- 20161030 [CSS] POINTYFEATHER / tar extract pathname bypass (CVE-2016-6321) - patch update (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISCx_transferred
- 93937 (opens in a new tab)vdb-entryx_refsource_BIDx_transferred
- GLSA-201611-19 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_GENTOOx_transferred
- 20161026 [CSS] POINTYFEATHER / tar extract pathname bypass (CVE-2016-6321) (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_FULLDISCx_transferred
- http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/tar.git/commit/?id=7340f67b9860ea0531c1450e5aa261c50f67165d (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_CONFIRMx_transferred
- [bug-tar] 20161029 Re: [Bug-tar] possible fixes for CVE-2016-6321 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- DSA-3702 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_DEBIANx_transferred
- https://sintonen.fi/advisories/tar-extract-pathname-bypass.proper.txt (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/139370/GNU-tar-1.29-Extract-Pathname-Bypass.html (opens in a new tab)x_refsource_MISCx_transferred
- USN-3132-1 (opens in a new tab)vendor-advisoryx_refsource_UBUNTUx_transferred
- [bookkeeper-issues] 20210628 [GitHub] [bookkeeper] padma81 opened a new issue #2746: Security Vulnerabilities in CentOS 7 image, Upgrade image to CentOS 8 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
- [bookkeeper-issues] 20210629 [GitHub] [bookkeeper] padma81 opened a new issue #2746: Security Vulnerabilities in CentOS 7 image, Upgrade image to CentOS 8 (opens in a new tab)mailing-listx_refsource_MLISTx_transferred
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2016-7248 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2016-6321)Record last updated .