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CVE-2020-28949

PEAR Archive_Tar Deserialization of Untrusted Data

7.8 HIGHActively exploited (CISA KEV)Public exploitEPSS 84.6%
  1. Published19 Nov 2020
  2. Added to CISA KEV25 Aug 2022
  3. Remediation due15 Sept 2022
Actively exploited (CISA KEV)

PEAR Archive_Tar allows an unserialization attack because phar: is blocked but PHAR: is not blocked. PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository and it is an open-source framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components with known usage in third-party products such as Drupal Core and Red Hat Linux.

Added to KEV: 25 Aug 2022Federal remediation due: 15 Sept 2022

Description

Archive_Tar through 1.4.10 has :// filename sanitization only to address phar attacks, and thus any other stream-wrapper attack (such as file:// to overwrite files) can still succeed.

CVSS 3.1 breakdown

Attack vectorLocal
Attack complexityLow
Privileges requiredNone
User interactionRequired
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected products

Drupal≥ 7.0 < 7.75 · ≥ 8.0.0 < 8.9.10 · ≥ 8.8.0 < 8.8.12 · ≥ 9.0.0 < 9.0.9
PHP Archive Tar< 1.4.12
Debian Linux10.0 · 9.0
Fedoraproject Fedora32 · 33 · 34 · 35

Remediation

Fixed in
Drupal≥ 7.75
PHP Archive Tar≥ 1.4.12

References

and 3 more references

Frequently asked

Is CVE-2020-28949 being actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2020-28949 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, added 25 Aug 2022.

How severe is CVE-2020-28949?

CVE-2020-28949 has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.8, rated high. EPSS estimates a 84.6% probability of exploitation.

Which products are affected by CVE-2020-28949?

Affected products include Drupal, PHP Archive Tar, Debian Linux, Fedoraproject Fedora.

How do I fix CVE-2020-28949?

Upgrade affected software to a fixed version, for example Drupal 7.75, PHP Archive Tar 1.4.12 or later, then confirm no affected versions remain in your inventory.

How Secuno handles this

Secuno correlates vulnerabilities like CVE-2020-28949 against the real software inventory on every managed device, every day. Rather than a static severity, each match is scored in context: exploit availability, EPSS, the asset's exposure, and business criticality decide where it lands in the queue. Because it is on the CISA KEV list, Secuno flags any affected asset as top-priority automatically. If an affected version is present anywhere across your portfolio, it surfaces automatically with a prioritised remediation path.

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Data from the NVD, CISA KEV catalog and FIRST EPSS. CVSS 3.1 base score shown where available.