CVE-2026-59871: node-tar: Process crash via PAX numeric path type confusion

July 20, 2026

A crafted 2.5KB tar archive crashes any Node.js process that extracts it. The PAX header parser coerces all-digit path values to JavaScript numbers, which causes an uncaught TypeError when downstream code calls .split('/') on the numeric value. Error handlers and strict: false cannot intercept the crash.

References

github.com/advisories/GHSA-w8wr-v893-vjvp
github.com/isaacs/node-tar/commit/e02a4e9e013c4be95302e2eb2047a942b883c27b
github.com/isaacs/node-tar/releases/tag/v7.5.18
github.com/isaacs/node-tar/security/advisories/GHSA-w8wr-v893-vjvp
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-59871

Code Behaviors & Features

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