CVE-2026-53486
Description
A flaw was found in the decompress package for Node.js. A remote attacker can exploit this vulnerability by crafting a malicious archive. When the archive is extracted, it can create files and links outside the intended directory, leading to unauthorized reading or writing of files. This is due to improper handling of hardlink and symlink entries, insufficient path containment checks, and failure to remove setuid, setgid, or sticky bits from file modes. This can result in high confidentiality and integrity impacts.
Statement
Red Hat Build of Keycloak, Red Hat Advanced Cluster Management (VolSync), Red Hat Hardened Images (dotnet8.0), and the Fedora/EPEL yarnpkg packages bundle the original, unmaintained npm decompress package (version 4.2.1 or earlier), which does not receive an upstream fix for this issue. None of these components use the actively maintained @xhmikosr/decompress fork that received the fix in versions 10.2.1 and 11.1.3. Red Hat rates this issue with a CVSS score of 8.1 (Important), reflecting that in these products archive extraction is performed on locally supplied or build-time archives rather than automatically on arbitrary network-supplied input, which Red Hat scores as requiring user interaction (UI:R) in contrast to the upstream CVSS score of 9.1.
Mitigation
There is no upstream fix for the original, unmaintained decompress npm package used by these components (last release 4.2.1). The maintained fork, @xhmikosr/decompress, resolves this issue in versions 10.2.1 and 11.1.3, but is not used by any affected Red Hat component. As a general mitigation, only extract archives from trusted sources with the affected tooling, run extraction as a non-root user to prevent the setuid/setgid/sticky-bit issue from creating a privileged file, and verify that any symlinks or hardlinks produced by extraction resolve inside the intended output directory.
Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS) Score Details
Info alert:Important note
CVSS scores for open source components depend on vendor-specific factors (e.g. version or build chain). Therefore, Red Hat's score and impact rating can be different from NVD and other vendors. Red Hat remains the authoritative CVE Naming Authority (CNA) source for its products and services (see Red Hat classifications).
CVSS v3 Score Breakdown
| Red Hat | NVD | cve.org | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base Score | 8.1 | N/A | 9.1 |
| Attack Vector | Network | N/A | Network |
| Attack Complexity | Low | N/A | Low |
| Privileges Required | None | N/A | None |
| User Interaction | Required | N/A | None |
| Scope | Unchanged | N/A | Unchanged |
| Confidentiality | High | N/A | High |
| Integrity Impact | High | N/A | High |
| Availability Impact | None | N/A | None |
Vector
Red Hat: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
cve.org: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Understanding the Weakness (CWE)
Integrity,Confidentiality,Availability
Technical Impact: Execute Unauthorized Code or Commands
The attacker may be able to create or overwrite critical files that are used to execute code, such as programs or libraries.
Integrity
Technical Impact: Modify Files or Directories
The attacker may be able to overwrite or create critical files, such as programs, libraries, or important data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, appending a new account at the end of a password file may allow an attacker to bypass authentication.
Confidentiality
Technical Impact: Read Files or Directories
The attacker may be able read the contents of unexpected files and expose sensitive data. If the targeted file is used for a security mechanism, then the attacker may be able to bypass that mechanism. For example, by reading a password file, the attacker could conduct brute force password guessing attacks in order to break into an account on the system.
Availability
Technical Impact: DoS: Crash, Exit, or Restart
The attacker may be able to overwrite, delete, or corrupt unexpected critical files such as programs, libraries, or important data. This may prevent the product from working at all and in the case of protection mechanisms such as authentication, it has the potential to lock out product users.
Frequently Asked Questions
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