flowchart TD
    A["Attacker crafts malicious tar"] --> B["tar contains:
    16 dir/symlink pairs
    254-char escape symlink
    'escape' symlink to /
    payload file"]

    B --> C["Target extracts with
    tarfile.extractall(filter='data')"]

    C --> D{"Python resolves symlinks
    via os.path.realpath()"}

    D --> E["Follows short symlinks a→ddd...d
    Resolved path grows with each step"]

    E --> F{"Resolved path length
    > PATH_MAX (4096)?"}

    F -->|"No (normal)"| G["realpath correctly resolves
    Symlink blocked by filter ✓"]

    F -->|"Yes (overflow!)"| H["realpath STOPS resolving
    Falls back to string manipulation"]

    H --> I["Python thinks symlink
    resolves INSIDE extraction dir"]

    I --> J["Filter PASSES the symlink ✗"]

    J --> K["OS follows symlink correctly
    'escape' resolves to /"]

    K --> L["Payload written to
    arbitrary file on disk"]

    style F fill:#ff6b6b,color:#fff
    style H fill:#ff6b6b,color:#fff
    style J fill:#ff6b6b,color:#fff
    style L fill:#ff6b6b,color:#fff
    style G fill:#51cf66,color:#fff

sequenceDiagram
    participant A as Attacker Machine
    participant T as Target Machine

    Note over A: Phase 1 — Preparation
    A->>A: Generate SSH keypair (ssh-keygen)
    A->>A: Configure exploit variables<br/>(DEST_DIR, DEPTH_TO_ROOT, etc.)
    A->>A: Run CVE-2025-4517.py or .go<br/>to generate malicious tar

    Note over A,T: Phase 2 — Delivery
    A->>T: Transfer malicious tar to target<br/>(scp, wget, curl, ftp, etc.)
    T->>T: Place tar in location accessible<br/>to the vulnerable script

    Note over T: Phase 3 — Exploitation
    T->>T: Trigger extraction via the<br/>vulnerable Python script
    T->>T: Python calls tarfile.extractall(filter="data")

    Note over T: What Python sees vs reality
    T->>T: realpath() overflows at PATH_MAX
    T->>T: Filter thinks "escape" symlink is safe
    T->>T: OS follows "escape" → resolves to /
    T->>T: Payload written to /root/.ssh/authorized_keys

    Note over A,T: Phase 4 — Access
    A->>T: SSH as root using the written key
    T-->>A: Root shell obtained

graph LR
    subgraph "Tar Members (extracted in order)"
        D1["📁 ddd...d/"] --> S1["🔗 a → ddd...d"]
        D2["📁 ddd...d/ddd...d/"] --> S2["🔗 ddd...d/b → ddd...d"]
        D3["📁 ...16 levels..."] --> S3["🔗 .../p → ddd...d"]
        S4["🔗 a/b/.../p/lll...254...l<br/>→ ../../ × 16"]
        S5["🔗 escape<br/>→ a/b/.../p/lll...l/../../ × DEPTH"]
        F1["📄 escape/root/.ssh/authorized_keys<br/>(payload content)"]
    end

    S1 -.->|"short path<br/>stays small"| S2
    S2 -.-> S3
    S3 -.-> S4
    S4 -.->|"254 chars pushes<br/>past PATH_MAX"| S5
    S5 -.->|"resolves to /"| F1