Bug 2556419 (CVE-2026-113724)

Summary: CVE-2026-113724 virtualenv: virtualenv: Insecure file permission modification via symlink following
Product: [Other] Security Response Reporter: OSIDB Bzimport <bzimport>
Component: vulnerabilityAssignee: Product Security DevOps Team <prodsec-dev>
Status: NEW --- QA Contact:
Severity: medium Docs Contact:
Priority: medium    
Version: unspecifiedCC: akhatavk, anpicker, anthomas, aos-team-art-private, aprice, asdas, cmyers, dnakabaa, dpaolell, dschmidt, ehelms, gbenhaim, ggainey, hasun, ikhan, jdelft, jdobes, jfula, jlanda, jmitchel, jowilson, jpasqual, jsamir, jupierce, juwatts, jwong, kaycoth, kgaikwad, kshier, lcouzens, lgarciaa, mbiarnes, mdellweg, mhulan, niyer, nmoumoul, nyancey, oezr, omaciel, ometelka, orabin, osousa, pcreech, ppalepu, ppostler, prdhamdh, prwatson, ptisnovs, rbobbitt, rchan, sdawley, sghai, sidsharm, simaishi, smallamp, stcannon, suppawar, syedriko, tmalecek, ttakamiy, twaugh, vlaad, xdharmai, yguenane, zzhou
Target Milestone: ---Keywords: Security
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Hardware: All   
OS: Linux   
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A flaw was found in virtualenv. When cleaning up files, the deletion error-handling routine follows symbolic links when attempting to restore write permissions for removal. A local attacker can exploit this issue by planting a symbolic link pointing to a file owned by the executing user, causing the cleanup operation to unintentionally grant write access to the targeted file. This could allow unauthorized modification of sensitive files.
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Description OSIDB Bzimport 2026-10-20 20:01:50 UTC 
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.