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Fencer Intel
medium 4.5

CVE-2026-113724 json

virtualenv: Deletion recovery can change a symlink target's mode

published 20d ago modified 11d ago also BIT-virtualenv-2026-113724 , EUVD-2026-105272 , GHSA-43mp-35q3-x3fq

cvss
4.5
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.2%
EPSS 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 10%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.14.9, the safe_delete() deletion error handler responds to a failed removal by reading mode bits with os.lstat(path) and applying owner-write permission with os.chmod(path, ...), which follows a symlink. A planted link inside a read-only directory can therefore cause a victim-owned target outside the destination that is initially not writable by the invoking user to become broadly writable before the retry fails, provided that user owns the target and can change its mode. Another account can use the widened mode only if it can traverse the target's parent directories; root does not reach the demonstrated failure path, and the operation does not itself read the target. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.9.

Patch / fix

  • pypi virtualenv 21.14.9
  • bitnami virtualenv 21.14.9
  • virtualenv virtualenv 21.14.9
  • python-virtualenv openSUSE Tumbleweed 21.15.1-1.1

opensuse advisories openSUSE-SU-2026:12372-1

Is CVE-2026-113724 in your dependencies? Fencer shows which of your repositories are affected as soon as an advisory lands, and opens the fix as a pull request.

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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-2026-113724 updated cvss 4.5

virtualenv: virtualenv: Insecure file permission modification via symlink following

  • Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed openshift-lightspeed/lightspeed-service-api-rhel9 Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 python-virtualenv 20.25.1-2.el10ap, python3.11-virtualenv 20.25.1-1.el9ap, python3.12-virtualenv 20.25.1-2.el9ap, ansible-automation-platform-26/controller-rhel9, ansible-automation-platform-27/controller-rhel9, ansible-automation-platform-26/eda-controller-rhel9, +2 more Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) rhoai/odh-ta-lmes-job-rhel9, rhoai/odh-kserve-agent-rhel9, rhoai/odh-kserve-router-rhel9, rhoai/odh-feature-server-rhel9, rhoai/odh-kserve-controller-rhel9, rhai-early-access/docling-serve-cuda-rhel9, +6 more Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 python-virtualenv 20.25.1-2.el10ap Red Hat OpenShift Dev Spaces devspaces/udi-rhel9 Red Hat Satellite 6 satellite/iop-yuptoo-rhel9, satellite/iop-host-inventory-rhel9, satellite/iop-advisor-backend-rhel9
    affected: workaround, no fix available “Fix deferred”

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

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
Proof of concept is public
Automatable
no
Technical impact
partial
Assessed
13d ago

Exploit prediction

0.20% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 10% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-09).

Exploits and checks

  • github.com https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-43mp-35q3-x3fq referenced PoC, tagged "exploit" by a source, unverified

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 4.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
GitHub 3.1 4.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
OSV 3.1 4.5 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
pypi virtualenv
<21.14.9
21.14.9
bitnami virtualenv
<21.14.9
21.14.9

Affected products

  • pypa virtualenv

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-59 Improper Link Resolution Before File Access

References

Sources

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.

CPEs and fixed versions use Anchore's correction of NVD's data: Added CPE configurations because not yet analyzed by NVD.