Cornac prior to version 2.6.0 is vulnerable to a Tar Slip path traversal flaw (CWE‑22), allowing an attacker to create or overwrite arbitrary files outside the intended cache directory. By supplying a crafted TAR archive that contains sequences of "../", absolute paths, or symlink/hardlink entries, the internal _extract_archive() function can write files to unintended locations on the filesystem with the permissions of the running process. This can potentially compromise system integrity and allow execution of malicious code if writable paths include executable locations.

The affected product is PreferredAI Cornac, all releases before 2.6.0. Users running these older versions are at risk when the tool accesses untrusted dataset archives through its built‑in loaders.

The CVSS score of 8.8 categorizes this vulnerability as high severity, yet the EPSS score of < 1% indicates a very low probability of exploitation in the wild. Cornac is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog. Exploitation requires control over the archive input supplied to the dataset loader; an attacker can trigger the flaw by delivering a maliciously crafted TAR archive during normal operation.