Path traversal in virtualenv seed replacement can delete files
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Local
- Privileges required
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- High
- Impact type
- —
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · Low
- Fix status
- Partial Red Hat: 6 without a fix
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA, GitHub and Red Hat.
Summary
virtualenv before 21.14.9 has a path traversal flaw (CWE-22) in seed package replacement. It joins paths from existing package metadata to site-packages without checking they stay inside, so relative traversal, absolute entries or linked parents can point elsewhere. When a reused destination holds metadata influenced by another account, environment creation can delete files outside the environment with the invoking user's permissions, if that user can delete them.
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, PipInstall._uninstall_previous_version() accepts existing seed-package metadata and _uninstall_dist() joins entries from top_level.txt and RECORD to site-packages without checking containment. When a reused destination contains distribution metadata influenced by another account, relative traversal, absolute entries, or linked parents can cause app-data reseeding to delete files outside the environment or the environment root with the invoking user's permissions, provided that user has deletion rights over the named paths. The deletion occurs during environment creation before any later use of the environment. Fresh environments without existing package metadata and creation with --clear do not enter this cleanup 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-hhxq-47xx-j5xx |
- 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-hhxq-47xx-j5xx
Remediation
Upgrade virtualenv to 21.14.9, which fixes this flaw on PyPI. Red Hat has no plan available for OpenShift Lightspeed, Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2, Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI), Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4, Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces and Red Hat 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-hhxq-47xx-j5xx 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-2026-113719
- 2026-10-21 Affected versions changed · Red Hat
- 2026-10-21 CVSS score added · Red Hat
- 2026-10-23 Alias added: GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx
- 2026-10-23 Fix available: PyPI/[email protected] · GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx
- 2026-10-23 CVSS score added · GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx
- 2026-10-23 Weakness changed · GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx
- 2026-10-23 6 new references · GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx
- 2026-10-27 CISA SSVC decision points changed
- 2026-10-27 Priority changed: LOW → MEDIUM
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-2026-113719 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-113719 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
- CVE-2026-113719 · 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