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Fencer Vulns
high 7.8

CVE-2026-113776 json

virtualenv activation scripts run code from a path that contains a placeholder name

published 2026-10-20 19 d ago modified 2026-10-29 10 d ago also BIT-virtualenv-2026-113776 , EUVD-2026-106868 , GHSA-8rjx-v5ww-45pp

cvss
7.8
version 3.1, CNA
cisa kev
Not listed
not in CISA's catalog
epss
0.3%
EPSS 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 19%
public exploits
0
none known

Summary

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. From 20.26.6 until 21.14.2, ViaTemplateActivator.instantiate_template() replaces placeholders one key at a time across the complete activation template, so trigger names such as __VIRTUAL_NAME__, __VIRTUAL_ENV__, or __VIRTUAL_PROMPT__ inside an already substituted and quoted environment path or prompt can be replaced during a later pass. The later value's quoting can close the earlier literal and execute the remaining path when a user activates the environment through bash, fish, xonsh, or activate_this.py. The distinct csh prompt-display token __VIRTUAL_PROMPT_DISPLAY_TCSH__ can instead break the generated script without establishing command execution. The attacker must influence the destination path or --prompt, and a value without a relevant placeholder name does not trigger this mechanism. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.2.

Patch / fix

  • pypi virtualenv 21.14.2
  • bitnami virtualenv 21.14.2
  • virtualenv virtualenv 21.14.2
  • python-virtualenv Azure Linux 3.0 20.36.1-10

azure linux advisories AZL-110106

Azure Linux vulnerability data, Copyright (c) Microsoft Corporation, from https://github.com/microsoft/AzureLinuxVulnerabilityData via OSV, under the MIT licence; changed: normalised to fixed package versions per release. MIT

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-2026-113776 updated cvss 7.8

virtualenv: virtualenv: Arbitrary command execution via sequential placeholder substitution in activation templates

  • Red Hat OpenShift Lightspeed openshift-lightspeed/lightspeed-service-api-rhel9
    affected: no fix planned “Will not fix”
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 python-virtualenv 20.25.1-2.el10ap, python3.12-virtualenv 20.25.1-2.el9ap, ansible-automation-platform-26/controller-rhel9, ansible-automation-platform-27/controller-rhel9, ansible-automation-platform-26/lightspeed-chatbot-rhel9 Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) rhoai/odh-ta-lmes-job-rhel9, rhoai/odh-feature-server-rhel9, rhai-early-access/docling-serve-cuda-rhel9, rhoai/odh-kserve-storage-initializer-rhel9, rhoai/odh-training-rocm64-torch28-py312-rhel9, rhoai/odh-trustyai-nemo-guardrails-server-rhel9, +3 more 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: no fix available
  • Red Hat Ansible Automation Platform 2 python3.11-virtualenv 20.25.1-1.el9ap, ansible-automation-platform-26/eda-controller-rhel9, ansible-automation-platform-27/eda-controller-rhel9
    not affected: vulnerable code not present
  • Red Hat OpenShift AI (RHOAI) rhoai/odh-kserve-agent-rhel9, rhoai/odh-kserve-router-rhel9, rhoai/odh-kserve-controller-rhel9 Red Hat OpenShift Container Platform 4 python-virtualenv 20.25.1-2.el10ap
    not affected: component 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

CISA SSVC

Exploitation
none
Automatable
no
Technical impact
total
Assessed
11 d ago

Exploit prediction

0.27% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 19% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by version score vector
CNA 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
GitHub 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
OSV 3.1 7.8 CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Affected packages

ecosystem package affected fixed in
pypi virtualenv
>=20.26.6, <21.14.2
21.14.2
bitnami virtualenv
>=20.26.6, <21.14.2
21.14.2

Affected products

  • pypa virtualenv

Classification

Weakness
  • CWE-78 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an OS Command
  • CWE-94 Improper Control of Generation of Code

References

Sources

Fencer Vulns 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.