Line-boundary injection in virtualenv pyvenv.cfg readback
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- Passive
- Attack complexity
- High
- Attack requirements
- Present
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · Low
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 4.0 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat.
Summary
virtualenv before 21.14.9 reads its generated pyvenv.cfg with str.splitlines() in the stdlib venv creator and merges the parsed keys over its configuration. A line-boundary character such as U+2028 in the destination pathname injects keys like home and include-system-site-packages (CWE-93), so an untrusted caller who influences that path can weaken isolation or change which standard library files load.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
Description from the CNA
virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.14.9, the stdlib venv creator reads generated pyvenv.cfg with str.splitlines() and merges parsed keys over virtualenv's selected configuration. An untrusted caller who influences the destination pathname can include a line-boundary character such as U+2028 to inject keys including home and include-system-site-packages, causing path data to change configuration structure before final output. Setting include-system-site-packages to true weakens environment isolation, while an altered home can change which standard-library files the interpreter loads if the attacker also controls that location. The builtin creator does not use this readback path. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.9.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- Poc
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in | Status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| pypa | virtualenv | before 21.14.9 | 21.14.9 | Patch available | CNA |
| — | virtualenv (PyPI) | before 21.14.9 | 21.14.9 | Patch available | GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf |
- virtualenv Vendorpypa Affected before 21.14.9 Fixed in 21.14.9 Patch available CNA
- virtualenv (PyPI) Vendor— Affected before 21.14.9 Fixed in 21.14.9 Patch available GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf
Remediation
Upgrade virtualenv to 21.14.9, the fixed version on PyPI. The sources list no fixed version for OpenShift Lightspeed, Ansible Automation Platform 2, Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI), OpenShift Container Platform 4, OpenShift Dev Spaces and Satellite 6.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-10-28
- Fix · CNA virtualenv (pypa) Fixed in 21.14.9
- Fix · GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf virtualenv (PyPI) Fixed in 21.14.9 Advisory →
Vendor assessments
Red Hat
Red Hat rating: Moderate. Red Hat's page for this CVE →
| Product | Status | Plan or fix |
|---|---|---|
| OpenShift Lightspeed | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
| Red Hat Satellite 6 | Affected | No fix yet: Fix deferred |
Timeline
- 2026-10-21 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-113715
- 2026-10-21 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-21 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-23 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
- 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf
- 2026-10-23 Fix available: PyPI/[email protected] · GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf
- 2026-10-23 Weakness changed · GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf
- 2026-10-23 6 new references · GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf
References
More pypa vulnerabilities
- TI-2025-29803 setuptools has a path traversal vulnerability in PackageIndex.download that leads to Arbitrary File Write CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.7
- TI-2024-05888 Remote Code Execution in pypa/setuptools CVSS 3.0HIGH 8.8
- TI-2026-78525 Shell command injection in virtualenv generated POSIX launchers CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.8
- TI-2026-78526 Command injection in virtualenv bash activation prompt CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-78521 Code injection in virtualenv Xonsh activation script CVSS 4.0HIGH 7.1
- TI-2026-19377 wheel Allows Arbitrary File Permission Modification via Path Traversal CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.1
Sources
- CVE-2026-113715 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-113715 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-qmx5-4p3x-wvqf · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-113715 · Red Hat security data · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences