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Findings

CVE-2020-28949

PEAR Archive_Tar Deserialization of Untrusted Data Vulnerability

Published Nov 19, 2020 · updated Jun 16, 2026 · php archive tar

PEAR Archive_Tar allows an unserialization attack because phar: is blocked but PHAR: is not blocked. PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository and it is an open-source framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components with known usage in third-party products such as Drupal Core and Red Hat Linux.

Timeline

Detection, updates, and resolution for this record.

  1. Nov 19, 2020 · Catalog

    Detected

    PEAR Archive_Tar allows an unserialization attack because phar: is blocked but PHAR: is not blocked. PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository and it is an open-source framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components with known usage in third-party products such as Drupal Core and Red Hat Linux.

  2. Aug 25, 2022 · CISA KEV

    Known exploited

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  3. Sep 15, 2022 · CISA KEV

    Remediation due

    Apply updates per vendor instructions.

  4. Jun 16, 2026 · Catalog

    Updated

    PEAR Archive_Tar allows an unserialization attack because phar: is blocked but PHAR: is not blocked. PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository and it is an open-source framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components with known usage in third-party products such as Drupal Core and Red Hat Linux.

Required action

Apply updates per vendor instructions.

CISA due date Sep 15, 2022

Affected

  • cpe debian/debian linux10.0
  • cpe debian/debian linux9.0
  • cpe drupal/drupalversion unspecified
  • cpe fedoraproject/fedora32
  • cpe fedoraproject/fedora33
  • cpe fedoraproject/fedora34
  • cpe fedoraproject/fedora35
  • cpe php/archive tarversion unspecified
  • vendor PEAR Archive_Tarversion unspecified

Sources

  • CISA KEVCVE-2020-28949

    PEAR Archive_Tar allows an unserialization attack because phar: is blocked but PHAR: is not blocked. PEAR stands for PHP Extension and Application Repository and it is an open-source framework and distribution system for reusable PHP components with known usage in third-party products such as Drupal Core and Red Hat Linux.

    cisa.gov
  • CVE.orgCVE-2020-28949

    Official CVE identifier

    cve.org
  • FIRST EPSSCVE-2020-28949

    30-day exploitation probability 84.6%

    first.org
  • Metasploit Modulesexploit_multi/fileformat/archive_tar_arb_file_write

    Public module reference (excellent). Module source is not copied into this catalog.

    rapid7.com
  • NIST NVDCVE-2020-28949

    Archive_Tar through 1.4.10 has :// filename sanitization only to address phar attacks, and thus any other stream-wrapper attack (such as file:// to overwrite files) can still succeed.

    nvd.nist.gov
  • Packet Storm Securityhttp://packetstormsecurity.com/files/161095/PEAR-Archive_Tar-Arbitrary-File-Write.html

    Packet Storm link already published on the finding.

    packetstormsecurity.com

References

CVE-2020-28949 · ZeroDay Findings