CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2018-1000888 — PEAR Archive_Tar version 1.4.3 and earlier contains a CWE-502, CWE-915 vulnerability in the Archive_Tar class

High CVSS 8.8

PEAR Archive_Tar version 1.4.3 and earlier contains a CWE-502, CWE-915 vulnerability in the Archive_Tar class. There are several file operations with `$v_header['filename']` as parameter (such as file_exists, is_file, is_dir, etc). When extract is called without a specific prefix path, we can trigger unserialization by crafting a tar file with `phar://[path_to_malicious_phar_file]` as path. Object injection can be used to trigger destruct in the loaded PHP classes, e.g. the Archive_Tar class itself. With Archive_Tar object injection, arbitrary file deletion can occur because `@unlink($this->_temp_tarname)` is called. If another class with useful gadget is loaded, it may possible to cause remote code execution that can result in files being deleted or possibly modified. This vulnerability appears to have been fixed in 1.4.4.

Severity
High
CVSS
8.8 (3.0)
Published
2018-12-28
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
software/application
Weaknesses
CWE-502

Affected products

  • php / pear_archive_tar
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 16.04
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 18.04
  • canonical / ubuntu_linux / 18.10
  • debian / debian_linux / 8.0
  • debian / debian_linux / 9.0

Matched remediation archetype

Unsafe deserialization and object reconstruction

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Check exposure

  • Inventory serialization formats accepted from requests, queues, caches, files, cookies, and cross-service messages.
  • Trace whether untrusted input can select classes, types, callbacks, constructors, or object hooks during decoding.
  • Identify signing, schema validation, trust-boundary, and compatibility settings for each decoder.

Remediate safely

  • Replace native object deserialization with a data-only format and explicit schema validation.
  • If replacement is not immediate, use a safe decoder with a minimal type allowlist and disable polymorphic or executable hooks.
  • Update the affected library and add inert tests for unknown types, extra fields, malformed nesting, and unsigned data.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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