GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 — astral-tokio-tar
GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 is a security vulnerability in astral-tokio-tar. A fix is available for astral-tokio-tar — see the affected versions and patch details below.
astral-tokio-tar is Vulnerable to PAX Header Desynchronization
Real-World Exposure
astral-tokio-tarReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects crates.io packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
Versions of astral-tokio-tar prior to 0.6.1 contain a PAX header interpretation bug that allows manipulated entries to be made selectively visible or invisible during extraction with astral-tokio-tar versus other tar implementations. An attacker could use this differential to smuggle unexpected files onto a victim's filesystem.
See GHSA-j5gw-2vrg-8fgx for a similar desynchronization bug in astral-tokio-tar.
Patches
Versions 0.6.1 and newer of astral-tokio-tar address this differential.
Workarounds
Users are advised to upgrade to version 0.6.1 or newer to address this advisory.
There is no workaround other than upgrading. Users should experience no breaking changes as a result of the upgrade.
Resources
- GHSA-j5gw-2vrg-8fgx is a similar PAX desynchronization bug
Attribution
- Reporter: Adam Harvey (@lawngnome)
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🦀crates.io | astral-tokio-tar | all versions | 0.6.1cargo update -p astral-tokio-tar --precise 0.6.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for astral-tokio-tar, including transitive dependencies — a direct dependency you never call can still pull in a vulnerable version.
Fix
Update astral-tokio-tar to 0.6.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 Security's impact-aware SCA analyses which vulnerable code paths your application actually calls, so a match like GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 can be triaged on real exposure rather than presence alone.
Tailored to GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 in your dependencies?
O3 Security finds GHSA-fp55-jw48-c537 across crates.io dependencies, including transitive ones, and its impact-aware SCA ranks findings by whether your code actually calls the vulnerable path.