This vulnerability in libarchive occurs during parsing of a PAX extended header with a malformed SUN.holesdata sparse-file attribute, leading to a heap overflow. An attacker supplying a crafted tar archive can trigger this flaw when the archive is parsed by a user or automated system using libarchive. While arbitrary code execution is possible, it is complex and depends on memory layout and protections; most cases result in a denial of service via application crash. Red Hat Hardened Images include affected versions of libarchive. Red Hat has issued updated packages (libarchive 3.8.8-2.1.hum1) to fix the issue.

The vulnerability allows a remote attacker to cause a denial of service by crashing applications that parse malicious tar archives using libarchive. There is also potential for arbitrary code execution, which could lead to attacker control of the affected system, although this is difficult to achieve reliably. The CVSS score is 3.9 (low severity) reflecting local attack vector, low privileges required, and user interaction needed. The impact is primarily availability loss and limited confidentiality impact.

Red Hat has released updated libarchive packages (version 3.8.8-2.1.hum1) for Red Hat Hardened Images to fix this vulnerability. Users should apply these security updates promptly. Until patched, avoid processing untrusted or unverified tar archives, especially those from unknown sources or with unexpected content. Exercise caution when handling such archives to prevent triggering the vulnerability.