diff --git a/HISTORY.rst b/HISTORY.rst
index 61c48891..43e0ec6e 100644
--- a/HISTORY.rst
+++ b/HISTORY.rst
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@ PlatformIO Core 4.0
 * Fixed an issue when configuration file options partly ignored when using custom ``--project-conf`` (`issue #3034 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/3034>`_)
 * Fixed an issue when installing a package using custom Git tag and submodules were not updated correctly (`issue #3060 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/3060>`_)
 * Fixed an issue with linking process when ``$LDSCRIPT`` contains a space in path
+* Fixed security issue when extracting items from TAR archive (`issue #2995 <https://github.com/platformio/platformio-core/issues/2995>`_)
 
 4.0.3 (2019-08-30)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/platformio/unpacker.py b/platformio/unpacker.py
index 41b455a2..eabb03d4 100644
--- a/platformio/unpacker.py
+++ b/platformio/unpacker.py
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@
 # See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 # limitations under the License.
 
-from os import chmod
-from os.path import exists, join
+import os
 from tarfile import open as tarfile_open
 from time import mktime
 from zipfile import ZipFile
@@ -33,6 +32,9 @@ class ArchiveBase(object):
     def get_item_filename(self, item):
         raise NotImplementedError()
 
+    def is_link(self, item):
+        raise NotImplementedError()
+
     def extract_item(self, item, dest_dir):
         self._afo.extract(item, dest_dir)
         self.after_extract(item, dest_dir)
@@ -55,9 +57,36 @@ class TARArchive(ArchiveBase):
         return item.name
 
     @staticmethod
-    def islink(item):
+    def is_link(item):
         return item.islnk() or item.issym()
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def resolve_path(path):
+        return os.path.realpath(os.path.abspath(path))
+
+    def is_bad_path(self, path, base):
+        return not self.resolve_path(os.path.join(base, path)).startswith(base)
+
+    def is_bad_link(self, tarinfo, base):
+        return self.is_bad_path(
+            tarinfo.linkname,
+            base=self.resolve_path(os.path.join(base, os.path.dirname(tarinfo.name))),
+        )
+
+    def extract_item(self, item, dest_dir):
+        bad_conds = [
+            self.is_link(item) and self.is_bad_link(item, dest_dir),
+            not self.is_link(item) and self.is_bad_path(item.name, dest_dir),
+        ]
+        if not any(bad_conds):
+            super(TARArchive, self).extract_item(item, dest_dir)
+        else:
+            click.secho(
+                "Blocked insecure item `%s` from archive" % item.name,
+                fg="red",
+                err=True,
+            )
+
 
 class ZIPArchive(ArchiveBase):
     def __init__(self, archpath):
@@ -67,24 +96,25 @@ class ZIPArchive(ArchiveBase):
     def preserve_permissions(item, dest_dir):
         attrs = item.external_attr >> 16
         if attrs:
-            chmod(join(dest_dir, item.filename), attrs)
+            os.chmod(os.path.join(dest_dir, item.filename), attrs)
 
     @staticmethod
     def preserve_mtime(item, dest_dir):
         util.change_filemtime(
-            join(dest_dir, item.filename),
+            os.path.join(dest_dir, item.filename),
             mktime(tuple(item.date_time) + tuple([0, 0, 0])),
         )
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def is_link(_):
+        return False
+
     def get_items(self):
         return self._afo.infolist()
 
     def get_item_filename(self, item):
         return item.filename
 
-    def islink(self, item):
-        raise NotImplementedError()
-
     def after_extract(self, item, dest_dir):
         self.preserve_permissions(item, dest_dir)
         self.preserve_mtime(item, dest_dir)
@@ -96,7 +126,7 @@ class FileUnpacker(object):
         self._unpacker = None
 
     def __enter__(self):
-        if self.archpath.lower().endswith((".gz", ".bz2")):
+        if self.archpath.lower().endswith((".gz", ".bz2", ".tar")):
             self._unpacker = TARArchive(self.archpath)
         elif self.archpath.lower().endswith(".zip"):
             self._unpacker = ZIPArchive(self.archpath)
@@ -126,9 +156,9 @@ class FileUnpacker(object):
         # check on disk
         for item in self._unpacker.get_items():
             filename = self._unpacker.get_item_filename(item)
-            item_path = join(dest_dir, filename)
+            item_path = os.path.join(dest_dir, filename)
             try:
-                if not self._unpacker.islink(item) and not exists(item_path):
+                if not self._unpacker.is_link(item) and not os.path.exists(item_path):
                     raise exception.ExtractArchiveItemError(filename, dest_dir)
             except NotImplementedError:
                 pass