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TI-2026-10345 Aliases CVE-2026-12003GHSA-2wqx-fp26-qh5v

CPython >3.11 Insecure Input Validation resulting in privilege escalation

Priority LOW 25CWE-427Published · Updated

Key facts

Attack vector
Local
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Active
Attack complexity
Low
Attack requirements
Present
Impact type
Code execution
Confidentiality · integrity · availability
High · High · None
Fix status
Partial Red Hat: 1 fixed, 1 without a fix

Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA and Red Hat. Impact type from CWE-427.

Summary

To allow builds of Python to be run from an in-tree layout (rather than an installed file layout), the VPATH variable is defined at build time and used to locate certain landmarks - specifically, Modules/setup.local. When this landmark is found relative to VPATH relative to the executable, Python assumes it is running in a source tree and generates a different default sys.path. This code remains in release builds, so that release-ready builds can be built in-tree. On Windows, since builds are written to 'PCbuild/', the value of VPATH is set to '..\..', which results in a landmark of '..\..\Modules\setup.local'. This path is outside the install directory of Python, and may have different permissions, potentially allowing a low-privilege user to create the landmark and an alternative `Lib` folder that will be discovered by an otherwise restricted install. Such a setup occurs with the legacy default install location for all users (in the now superseded EXE installer), due to how Windows allows all users to create folders in the root directory of their OS drive. Our recommended mitigation on Windows is to migrate away from the legacy installer and use the new [Python install manager](https://www.python.org/downloads/latest/pymanager/) to install for the current user. Installs where the directory two levels above the Python installation directory have equivalent permissions are unaffected (in general, a per-user install cannot be modified at all by other users, removing any escalation of privilege risk, and could be directly modified by a privileged user, making the potential tampering irrelevant). Alternative mitigations might include preemptively creating and restricting access to a `Modules` directory. Be aware that only 3.13 and 3.14 will receive updated legacy installers - earlier fixes are only provided as sources. Platforms other than Windows allow VPATH to be overridden, but as they don't usually use a separated directory in the build for binaries, are unlikely to have a landmark reference outside of the install directory. The landmark detection involving VPATH is a fallback for when a more specific landmark - .\pybuilddir.txt - is absent, and was included for compatibility. Future releases of Python will no longer include the fallback, and so builds will need to generate or preserve the pybuilddir.txt file in order to work in-tree. This landmark file has been generated on Windows since 3.11, and on other platforms for longer.

Why it matters now

Exploitation None reported CISA SSVC · not in CISA KEV
EPSS 0.00142 3rd percentileScored 2026-11-07
Fix Partial CPython (Python Software Foundation): 3.11.16, 3.12.14, 3.13.15 +2Red Hat: 4 advisoriesRed Hat: 1 fixed, 1 without a fix

SSVC decision points

CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3

Exploitation
None
Automatable
No
Technical impact
Total

The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.

Affected products

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed inStatusSource
Python Software FoundationCPythonbefore 3.11.16; 3.12.0 to before 3.12.14; 3.13.0 to before 3.13.15; 3.14.0 to before 3.14.7; 3.15.0a1 to before 3.15.0b33.11.16, 3.12.14, 3.13.15, 3.14.7, 3.15.0b3Patch availableCNA
  • CPython VendorPython Software Foundation Affected before 3.11.16; 3.12.0 to before 3.12.14; 3.13.0 to before 3.13.15; 3.14.0 to before 3.14.7; 3.15.0a1 to before 3.15.0b3 Fixed in 3.11.16, 3.12.14, 3.13.15, 3.14.7, 3.15.0b3 Patch available CNA

CPE names Threatist (inferred) · 1

Inferred from how NVD named this product before; not given by a source.

CPEVersionsRoleVendor
cpe:2.3:a:python:python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*——python-pillow
  • cpe:2.3:a:python:python:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* Versions — — ·python-pillow

Remediation

  • Fix · CNA CPython (Python Software Foundation) Fixed in 3.11.16, 3.12.14, 3.13.15, 3.14.7, 3.15.0b3

Red Hat 4 advisories

  • RHSA-2026:68309 Released 2026-09-16 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images python3.13-3.13.15-1.3.hum1@aarch64, python3.13-3.13.15-1.3.hum1@src, python3.13-3.13.15-1.3.hum1@x86_64 +16
  • RHSA-2026:68154 Released 2026-09-16 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images python3.12-3.12.14-1.3.hum1@aarch64, python3.12-3.12.14-1.3.hum1@src, python3.12-3.12.14-1.3.hum1@x86_64 +12
  • RHSA-2026:68135 Released 2026-09-16 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images python3.11-3.11.16-1.4.hum1@aarch64, python3.11-3.11.16-1.4.hum1@src, python3.11-3.11.16-1.4.hum1@x86_64 +12
Show 1 more Red Hat advisories
  • RHSA-2026:67572 Released 2026-09-15 · Red Hat rating Important
    Red Hat Hardened Images RPMs Security Update
    • Red Hat Hardened Images python-unversioned-command-3.14.7-1.2.hum1@noarch@public-hummingbird-aarch64-rpms, python-unversioned-command-3.14.7-1.2.hum1@noarch@public-hummingbird-x86_64-rpms, python3-3.14.7-1.2.hum1@aarch64 +28

Vendor assessments

Red Hat

Red Hat rating: Important. Red Hat's page for this CVE →

ProductStatusPlan or fix
Red Hat Hardened ImagesAffectedNo fix planned: Will not fix
Red Hat Hardened ImagesFixed RHSA-2026:67572, RHSA-2026:68135, RHSA-2026:68154, RHSA-2026:68309
Not affected: 6 products
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 10
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 7
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 8
  • Red Hat Enterprise Linux 9
  • Red Hat Hardened Images

Timeline

  1. 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-12003
  2. 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-2wqx-fp26-qh5v

References

  • TI-2024-07037 Quadratic complexity parsing cookies with backslashes CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
  • TI-2024-11791 Bypass extraction filter to modify file metadata outside extraction directory CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
  • TI-2024-00411 Quoted zip-bomb protection for zipfile CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 6.2
  • TI-2026-13296 `HTTPPasswordMgr` can send saved HTTPS credentials via HTTP because of incorrect scheme matching CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 6.0
  • TI-2024-06422 Email header injection due to unquoted newlines CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.5
  • TI-2026-04606 Possible to hijack modules in current working directory CVSS 4.0MEDIUM 5.6
See all 83 →

Sources