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VulnerabilityPublished Updated

CVE-2026-102925: virtualenv bash and fish activation scripts execute commands embedded in paths

Affects virtualenvSource GCVE Database

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Authoritative record:CVE-2026-102925· High 7.8

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 7.8 High : upgrade to 21.7.14 soon.

Data as of 30 Oct 2026, 06:59 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score
7.8High
How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.
EPSS
0.1% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 4% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.
Patch
Available – fixed in 21.7.14
CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Exploitation evidence

  1. Disclosed: evidence found.

    CVE published 29 Sep 2026

  2. Detectable: no evidence on record.

    No public nuclei template indexed

  3. Weaponized: no evidence on record.

    No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB

  4. Exploited in the wild: no evidence on record.

    Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation

  5. Observed by OffSeq 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.

What to do

Upgrade virtualenv to 21.7.14.

Affected software

ProductAffectedFixed in
Homebrewvirtualenvpkg:brew/virtualenvOther threatsAffected
  • >=20.33.0 <21.7.14
Fixed in
  • 21.7.14

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

Description

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.

References

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