CVE-2026-22702Link Following in Virtualenv

Severity
4.5MEDIUMNVD
EPSS
0.0%
top 97.55%
CISA KEV
Not in KEV
Exploit
No known exploits
Affected products
Timeline
PublishedJan 10
Latest updateJan 13

Description

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to version 20.36.1, TOCTOU (Time-of-Check-Time-of-Use) vulnerabilities in virtualenv allow local attackers to perform symlink-based attacks on directory creation operations. An attacker with local access can exploit a race condition between directory existence checks and creation to redirect virtualenv's app_data and lock file operations to attacker-controlled locations. This issue has been patched in version 20.36.1.

CVSS vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:LExploitability: 1.0 | Impact: 3.4

Affected Packages3 packages

CVEListV5pypa/virtualenv< 20.36.1
NVDvirtualenv/virtualenv< 20.36.1
PyPIvirtualenv/virtualenv< 20.36.1

Patches

🔴Vulnerability Details

4
GHSA
virtualenv Has TOCTOU Vulnerabilities in Directory Creation2026-01-13
OSV
virtualenv Has TOCTOU Vulnerabilities in Directory Creation2026-01-13
CVEList
virtualenv Has TOCTOU Vulnerabilities in Directory Creation2026-01-10
OSV
CVE-2026-22702: virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments2026-01-10

📋Vendor Advisories

2
Red Hat
virtualenv: virtualenv: Local attacker can redirect file operations via TOCTOU race condition2026-01-10
Debian
CVE-2026-22702: python-virtualenv - virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to...2026

🕵️Threat Intelligence

1
Wiz
CVE-2026-22702 Impact, Exploitability, and Mitigation Steps | Wiz
CVE-2026-22702 — Link Following in Pypa Virtualenv | cvebase