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CVE-2026-102925GHSA-P58F-9548-MPM2BIT-VIRTUALENV-2026-102925PYSEC-2026-4013

virtualenv bash and fish activation scripts execute commands embedded in paths

Published
Last modified
published
Not listed in CISA KEV
Fix
Fixed in 21.7.13
None on Exploit-DB, Metasploit or GitHub
  • Exploitation: none
  • Automatable: no
  • Technical impact: total

Summary

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.7.13, the generated activate (bash and zsh) and activate.fish scripts place values already escaped by shlex.quote inside an additional quoted context. In the bash and zsh script, a crafted virtual environment path reaches __VIRTUAL_ENV__ when a relocated environment's recorded directory is absent; in the fish script, crafted Tcl or Tk library paths reach __TCL_LIBRARY__ or __TK_LIBRARY__. The surplus quotes can terminate the data-only quoted run and leave shell metacharacters parsed as commands when a user sources the activation script, allowing code execution with that user's privileges. This issue is fixed in version 21.7.13.

Timeline

  1. CVE published
  2. CISA SSVC assessment

    Exploitation: none · Automatable: no · Technical impact: total

  3. Record last updated

Affected versions

  • pypa virtualenv

    fixed in 21.7.13

  • virtualenvBitnami

    fixed in 21.7.13

  • virtualenvPyPI

    fixed in 21.7.13

References 4

GitHub · pypa/virtualenv