virtualenv: Generated POSIX console launchers interpret destination paths as shell syntax (pypa virtualenv)
At a glance
- Source
- NVD
- EPSS
- EPSS 0.29 % · percentile 21 ()
- State
- PUBLISHED
- Published
- Updated
- Assigner
- GitHub_M
- NVD status
- Awaiting Analysis
Description
virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.14.9, virtualenv's ScriptMakerCustom and pip pass an incompletely quoted interpreter path to distlib ScriptMaker when generating POSIX console scripts. When the path contains a space or produces a shebang longer than 127 bytes, distlib emits a /bin/sh wrapper whose double-quoted interpreter path still expands command substitutions and backticks. An attacker who influences the environment destination can therefore execute commands with the user's privileges when the user later runs a generated launcher; environment creation and activation do not trigger the command. Existing launchers are not repaired by upgrading virtualenv alone and must be regenerated, while a later independent pip installation or upgrade can reintroduce an affected launcher because pip's vendored distlib is unchanged. The virtualenv fix is released in version 21.14.9.
Weaknesses (CWE)
- CWE-78 — Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
References
Scores
| Version | Score | Vector | Scored by |
|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | GitHub_M |
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH 7.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H | NVD · security-advisories@github.com (Secondary) |
Advisories
- GHSA-c978-59m8-c77v — virtualenv: Generated POSIX console launchers interpret destination paths as shell syntax
European references
- ENISA EUVD · EUVD-2026-105304
- GCVE · GCVE-0-2026-113722
Affected products
| Product | Versions |
|---|---|
| pypa · virtualenv | affected < 21.14.9 |
Sources
| Source | Licence |
|---|---|
| CVE List (CVEProject cvelistV5) | CVE Program Terms of Use |
| EPSS (FIRST.org) | FIRST — attribution requested |
| ENISA EUVD | ENISA — reproduction authorised, source acknowledged |
| NVD (NIST) via fkie-cad/nvd-json-data-feeds | Public domain — this product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD |