CVE-2020-36193 — PEAR Archive_Tar Improper Link Resolution Vulnerability
Overview
PEAR Archive_Tar Tar.php allows write operations with directory traversal due to inadequate checking of symbolic links. 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.
Vulnerability details
- CVE ID
- CVE-2020-36193
- Vulnerability
- PEAR Archive_Tar Improper Link Resolution Vulnerability
- Vendor
- PEAR
- Affected products
- PEAR: Archive_Tar
- Severity
- HIGH
- Exploitation status
- Actively exploited in the wild (CISA KEV)
- Published
- 2022-08-25
Remediation guidance
CVE-2020-36193 is in CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog — U.S. federal civilian agencies are required to remediate it under Binding Operational Directive 22-01. Treat it as a priority for every environment.
Apply the vendor's official security update for PEAR the affected product as soon as possible. Where a patch is unavailable, apply vendor mitigations or isolate/segment exposed systems.
Hunt for indicators of compromise tied to this vulnerability and confirm logging/EDR coverage on affected assets.
Authoritative references
Remediate CVE-2020-36193 — and stay ahead of the next one
CVE-2020-36193 is listed in the CISA KEV catalog as actively exploited — treat remediation as urgent. Scan your domain free to see whether CVE-2020-36193 and other PEAR issues affect you and get a prioritized remediation report (full report from ₹999) — or stream the full feed of 1,600+ actively-exploited CVEs straight into your SOC.
📡 Get a free alert the moment a CVE like this lands in the KEV catalog → Join Sentinel APEX on Telegram