⚠️ Overhyped vulnerability of the week: CVE severity inflation strikes with CVE-2025-13462.
The issue is a TAR parser discrepancy in Python's `tarfile` module, where a specially crafted archive may be interpreted differently than other TAR implementations.
While NVD scored this CVE as Critical (CVSS 9.8), the publicly disclosed impact includes:
❌ No RCE
❌ No arbitrary file write
❌ No "guaranteed" impact of any kind
Furthermore, the CVE received a LOW severity rating in Python's original advisory.
The only realistic security impact is in systems that mix using Python's TAR parser with other TAR parsers, and make security decisions based on this parsing. This may lead to a validation vs. execution mismatch.
We believe that the advisory's low-severity rating is much more fitting in this case.