critical 9.8

CVE-2014-4650 in the critical feed json

The CGIHTTPServer module in Python 2.7.5 and 3.3.4 does not properly handle URLs in which URL encoding is used for path separators, which a…

published 2020-02-20 6y ago modified 2026-06-17 4mo ago also EUVD-2014-4576

cvss: 9.8; version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 23.9%; EPSS 23.9% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 97%
public exploits: 1; Exploit-DB

The CGIHTTPServer module in Python 2.7.5 and 3.3.4 does not properly handle URLs in which URL encoding is used for path separators, which allows remote attackers to read script source code or conduct directory traversal attacks and execute unintended code via a crafted character sequence, as demonstrated by a %2f separator.

Patch / fix

fixed in 1 distros 5 links 1

python python 2.7.8, 3.2.6, 3.3.6, 3.4.2

debian ubuntu red hat suse opensuse

python2.7 Debian 11 2.7.8-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2014-4650

python2.7 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 2.7.6-8ubuntu0.2
python3.4 Ubuntu 14.04 LTS 3.4.0-2ubuntu1.1

ubuntu advisories UBUNTU-CVE-2014-4650

Ubuntu security data © Canonical Ltd., from https://github.com/canonical/ubuntu-security-notices via OSV; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. CC BY-SA 4.0

python RHEL 7 2.7.5-34.el7
tkinter RHEL 7 2.7.5-34.el7
python-libs RHEL 7 2.7.5-34.el7
python-test RHEL 7 2.7.5-34.el7
python-tools RHEL 7 2.7.5-34.el7
python RHEL 6 2.6.6-64.el6
tkinter RHEL 6 2.6.6-64.el6
python-libs RHEL 6 2.6.6-64.el6

red hat advisories RHSA-2015:2101 RHSA-2015:1330 RHSA-2015:1064

python SLE Module for Python 2 15 SP1, SLE Module for Desktop Applications 15 SP1, SLE Module for Desktop Applications 15 +2 more 2.7.17-7.32.2
python-base SLE Module for Python 2 15 SP1, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 2.7.17-7.32.1
python3 SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 3.6.10-3.42.2
python3-base SLE Module for Development Tools 15 SP1, SLE Module for Development Tools 15, SLE Module for Basesystem 15 SP1 +1 more 3.6.10-3.42.2
python SLES for SAP 12, SLES 12, SLED 12 2.7.9-14.1
python-base SLES for SAP 12, SLES 12, SLED 12 +2 more 2.7.9-14.1

suse advisories SUSE-SU-2020:0234-1 SUSE-SU-2020:0114-1 SUSE-SU-2015:1344-1

python315 openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.15.0~a1-1.1
python314 openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.14.0~a1-1.1
python313 openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.13.0~b3-1.1
python3 openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.5.1-3.8
python-base openSUSE Tumbleweed 2.7.12-1.4
python openSUSE Tumbleweed 2.7.18-8.1
python310 openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.10.0rc1-4.2
python36 openSUSE Tumbleweed 3.6.15-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2025:15713-1 openSUSE-SU-2024:14434-1 openSUSE-SU-2024:14109-1 openSUSE-SU-2024:10100-1 openSUSE-SU-2024:10536-1 openSUSE-SU-2024:11202-1

bugs.python.org/issue21766 advisory

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Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2014-4650 updated 2026-11-07 cvss 5.0

python: CGIHTTPServer module does not properly handle URL-encoded path separators in URLs

Red Hat Enterprise Linux 5 python
affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
Red Hat Software Collections python27-python, python33-python, python27-tkinter, python27-python-libs, python27-python-test, python33-python-libs, +4 more
affected: no fix available, no fix planned “Will not fix”
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client (v. 7) python 2.7.5-34.el7, python-libs 2.7.5-34.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Client Optional (v. 7) tkinter 2.7.5-34.el7, python-test 2.7.5-34.el7, python-tools 2.7.5-34.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode (v. 7) python 2.7.5-34.el7, python-libs 2.7.5-34.el7 Red Hat Enterprise Linux ComputeNode Optional (v. 7) tkinter 2.7.5-34.el7, python-test 2.7.5-34.el7, python-tools 2.7.5-34.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:2101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop (v. 6) python 2.6.6-64.el6, tkinter 2.6.6-64.el6, python-libs 2.6.6-64.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Desktop Optional (v. 6) python-test 2.6.6-64.el6, python-tools 2.6.6-64.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node (v. 6) python 2.6.6-64.el6, python-libs 2.6.6-64.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux HPC Node Optional (v. 6) tkinter 2.6.6-64.el6, python-test 2.6.6-64.el6, python-tools 2.6.6-64.el6 Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) python 2.6.6-64.el6, tkinter 2.6.6-64.el6, python-libs 2.6.6-64.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:1330
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) python 2.7.5-34.el7, python-libs 2.7.5-34.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:2101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 6) tkinter 2.6.6-64.el6, python-test 2.6.6-64.el6, python-tools 2.6.6-64.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:1330
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server Optional (v. 7) tkinter 2.7.5-34.el7, python-test 2.7.5-34.el7, python-tools 2.7.5-34.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:2101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) python 2.6.6-64.el6, tkinter 2.6.6-64.el6, python-libs 2.6.6-64.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:1330

show 5 more

Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) python 2.7.5-34.el7, python-libs 2.7.5-34.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:2101
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 6) python-test 2.6.6-64.el6, python-tools 2.6.6-64.el6
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:1330
Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation Optional (v. 7) tkinter 2.7.5-34.el7, python-test 2.7.5-34.el7, python-tools 2.7.5-34.el7
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:2101
Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 6) python27 1.1-17.el6, python27-python 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-runtime 1.1-17.el6, python27-scldevel 1.1-17.el6, python27-tkinter 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-python-pip 1.5.6-5.el6, +6 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server (v. 7) python27 1.1-20.el7, python27-python 2.7.8-3.el7, python27-runtime 1.1-20.el7, python27-scldevel 1.1-20.el7, python27-tkinter 2.7.8-3.el7, python27-python-pip 1.5.6-5.el7, +6 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.5) python27 1.1-17.el6, python27-python 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-runtime 1.1-17.el6, python27-scldevel 1.1-17.el6, python27-tkinter 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-python-pip 1.5.6-5.el6, +6 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Server EUS (v. 6.6) python27 1.1-17.el6, python27-python 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-runtime 1.1-17.el6, python27-scldevel 1.1-17.el6, python27-tkinter 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-python-pip 1.5.6-5.el6, +6 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 6) python27 1.1-17.el6, python27-python 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-runtime 1.1-17.el6, python27-scldevel 1.1-17.el6, python27-tkinter 2.7.8-3.el6, python27-python-pip 1.5.6-5.el6, +6 more Red Hat Software Collections for Red Hat Enterprise Linux Workstation (v. 7) python27 1.1-20.el7, python27-python 2.7.8-3.el7, python27-runtime 1.1-20.el7, python27-scldevel 1.1-20.el7, python27-tkinter 2.7.8-3.el7, python27-python-pip 1.5.6-5.el7, +6 more
fixed: vendor fix RHSA-2015:1064
Red Hat Software Collections rh-python34-python, rh-python34-python-libs, rh-python34-python-test, rh-python34-python-tools, rh-python34-python-tkinter
not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Timeline

2014-06-27 First public exploit (EDB-33894)
2020-02-20 Published

Exploit prediction

23.91% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 97% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

EDB-33894 Python CGIHTTPServer - Encoded Directory Traversal webapps, 2014-06-27
bugs.python.org http://bugs.python.org/issue21766 referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.1	9.8	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
NVD	2.0	7.5	AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P

Classification

Weakness

CWE-22 Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory

References

bugs.python.org /issue21766
exploit, patch, vendor-advisory
access.redhat.com /security/cve/cve-2014-4650
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
openwall.com /lists/oss-security/2014/06/26/3
mailing-list, third-party-advisory

Sources

CVE List CVE-2014-4650
NVD CVE-2014-4650

Fencer Intel keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

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