Libarchive through 3.6.2 can cause directories to have world-writable permissions
Affects libarchiveSource GCVE Database
Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 High.
Data as of 25 Oct 2026, 19:02 UTC
- EPSS
- 0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 8% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:HExploitation evidence
Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 29 May 2023
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors
A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-25.
What to do
Affected software
| Product | Affected | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|
Ubuntu:Pro:14.04:LTSlibarchivepkg:deb/ubuntu/libarchive@3.1.2-7ubuntu2.8+esm5?arch=source&distro=esm-infra-legacy/trustyOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu:Pro:16.04:LTSlibarchivepkg:deb/ubuntu/libarchive@3.1.2-11ubuntu0.16.04.8+esm3?arch=source&distro=esm-infra-legacy/xenialOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu:Pro:18.04:LTSlibarchivepkg:deb/ubuntu/libarchive@3.2.2-3.1ubuntu0.7+esm3?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/bionicOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu:Pro:20.04:LTSlibarchivepkg:deb/ubuntu/libarchive@3.4.0-2ubuntu1.5+esm3?arch=source&distro=esm-infra/focalOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSlibarchivepkg:deb/ubuntu/libarchive@3.6.0-1ubuntu1.8?arch=source&distro=jammyOther threats | Affected
| Fixed in– |
Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.
AI-suggested
Until a patch is confirmed, avoid running libarchive in multi-threaded environments where this race condition could be exploited, or restrict local user access to systems using vulnerable versions. Monitor vendor channels for official fixes.
Description
Libarchive versions through 3.6.2 contain a race condition in the umask() call that can cause directories to be created with world-writable permissions (0777) without the sticky bit. This occurs because the umask change affects the entire process briefly, and concurrent threads can cause the umask to remain at 0 permanently. As a result, low-privileged local users may gain the ability to delete or rename files within these directories.