CVE-2026-11940VulnerabilityPublished 12 Oct 2026Updated 29 Oct 2026

Red Hat Security Advisory: Red Hat AI Base Images 3.5.3 (Gaudi)

Affects Red HatSource GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-11940· High 7.8

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High · fixed in Red Hat package updates : patch Red Hat CPython soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 00:15 UTC

CVSS 4.0 base score

7.8High

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

Patch: Available – fixed in 3.15.0b4, 3.14.7, 3.13.15 +3

CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:N/UI:N/VC:N/VI:N/VA:N/SC:H/SI:H/SA:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Attack Requirements: None
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None
Vulnerable system integrity: None
Vulnerable system availability: None
Subsequent system confidentiality: High
Subsequent system integrity: High
Subsequent system availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable system is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed below, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed “remotely exploitable” and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: The attacker must take no measurable action to exploit the vulnerability. The attack requires no target-specific circumvention to exploit the vulnerability. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable system.
Attack Requirements: None: The successful attack does not depend on the deployment and execution conditions of the vulnerable system. The attacker can expect to be able to reach the vulnerability and execute the exploit under all or most instances of the vulnerability.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files of the vulnerable system to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without interaction from any human user, other than the attacker.
Vulnerable system confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the Vulnerable System.
Vulnerable system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Vulnerable System.
Subsequent system confidentiality: High: There is a total loss of confidentiality, resulting in all resources within the Subsequent System being divulged to the attacker. Alternatively, access to only some restricted information is obtained, but the disclosed information presents a direct, serious impact. For example, an attacker steals the administrator's password, or private encryption keys of a web server.
Subsequent system integrity: High: There is a total loss of integrity, or a complete loss of protection. For example, the attacker is able to modify any/all files protected by the Subsequent System. Alternatively, only some files can be modified, but malicious modification would present a direct, serious consequence to the Subsequent System.
Subsequent system availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the Subsequent System or all availability impact is constrained to the Vulnerable System.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v4.0 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 23 Jun 2026
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponized: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 29 Oct 2026.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponized: A Metasploit exploit module or Exploit-DB entry exists (Metasploit scanner modules do not count), or CISA SSVC or the CVSS exploit maturity reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Upgrade to a fixed release listed under Affected software.

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Python Software FoundationCPython	Affected >=3.15.0a1 <3.15.0b4	Fixed in 3.15.0b4
Python Software FoundationCPython	Affected >=3.14.0 <3.14.7	Fixed in 3.14.7
Python Software FoundationCPython	Affected >=3.13.0 <3.13.15	Fixed in 3.13.15
Python Software FoundationCPython	Affected >=3.12.0 <3.12.14	Fixed in 3.12.14
Python Software FoundationCPython	Affected >=3.11.0 <3.11.16	Fixed in 3.11.16
Python Software FoundationCPython	Affected <3.10.21	Fixed in 3.10.21

Check your own hosts for these packages with threat-finder (opens in a new tab), our free open-source scanner.

AI-suggested

Red Hat currently does not offer a fix or mitigation that meets their deployment and stability criteria for this vulnerability. No workaround or temporary fix is provided by Red Hat at this time.

Description

CVE-2026-11940 is a vulnerability in the Python standard library tarfile.extractall() function. It allows a remote attacker to craft a malicious archive that bypasses security filters by using a hardlink referencing a symlink, enabling files to be read or written outside the intended extraction directory. This can lead to information disclosure or arbitrary file modification. The flaw affects Red Hat AI Base Images 3.5.3 (Gaudi) as shipped in Red Hat OpenShift AI.

Impact

Successful exploitation can result in information disclosure or arbitrary modification of files outside the intended extraction directory. This can compromise system integrity and confidentiality. The vulnerability requires low privileges and user interaction (providing a crafted archive). There is no known exploitation in the wild at this time.

Summary

The vulnerability CVE-2026-11940 exists in the Python tarfile.extractall() function, where a specially crafted archive can bypass path traversal protections by using a hardlink that points to a symlink. This allows the extraction process to recreate symlinks outside the intended destination directory, potentially leading to unauthorized file reads or writes. Red Hat has confirmed that only the CPython standard-library tarfile module is affected, excluding other similarly named packages. The issue is present in Red Hat AI Base Images 3.5.3 (Gaudi) used in Red Hat OpenShift AI. Red Hat currently does not provide a patch or mitigation that meets their criteria for ease of use and stability.

CWE-22Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory (Path Traversal) (opens in a new tab)
Base weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #6OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product uses external input to construct a pathname that is intended to identify a file or directory that is located underneath a restricted parent directory, but the product does not properly neutralize special elements within the pathname that can cause the pathname to resolve to a location that is outside of the restricted directory.
Implementation · Input Validation
Assume all input is malicious. Use an "accept known good" input validation strategy, i.e., use a list of acceptable inputs that strictly conform to specifications. Reject any input that does not strictly conform to specifications, or transform it into something that does.
Architecture and Design
For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks…
Implementation · Input Validation
Inputs should be decoded and canonicalized to the application's current internal representation before being validated (CWE-180). Make sure that the application does not decode the same input twice (CWE-174).
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V12.3.1 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Path Traversal (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes and URL Encoding Combined to Bypass Validation Logic (opens in a new tab)
Manipulating Web Input to File System Calls (opens in a new tab)
Using Escaped Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
Using Slashes in Alternate Encoding (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).
CWE-835Loop with Unreachable Exit Condition (Infinite Loop) (opens in a new tab)
Base weakness
The product contains an iteration or loop with an exit condition that cannot be reached, i.e., an infinite loop.

References

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 30 Oct 2026, 00:15 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-22, CWE-835

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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