In summary, we demonstrated that circRNA_SLC8A1 was upregulated in tuberculosis patients, and overexpression of circRNA_SLC8A1 sponged miR‐20b‐5p to upregulate SQSTM1/p62 expression, further activating the NF-κB signaling pathway to promote Mtb survival in macrophages. Here, SQSTM1 is linked to tuberculosis.