BIT-virtualenv-2024-53899
Command Injection vulnerability in virtualenv (PyPI)
What is BIT-virtualenv-2024-53899 About?
Virtualenv versions before 20.26.6 are vulnerable to command injection through their activation scripts. This flaw allows attackers to execute arbitrary commands by manipulating magic template strings during replacement. The impact could be arbitrary code execution on systems running virtualenv.
Affected Software
Technical Details
The vulnerability (CVE-2024-53899) in virtualenv arises because magic template strings within activation scripts are not properly quoted during replacement operations. When virtualenv generates or activates an environment, it uses templating to insert dynamic values into activation scripts. If an attacker can control or influence the values that are inserted into these templates, and if these values contain special characters or command delimiters (e.g., semicolons, backticks, dollar signs), these characters are not escaped or quoted correctly. Consequently, when the activation script is subsequently executed (e.g., by sourcing it in a shell), the unquoted 'magic template strings' are interpreted as shell commands, leading to arbitrary command injection.
What is the Impact of BIT-virtualenv-2024-53899?
Successful exploitation may allow attackers to execute arbitrary code or commands on the victim's system, leading to full system compromise, data theft, or further lateral movement.
What is the Exploitability of BIT-virtualenv-2024-53899?
Exploitation of this command injection vulnerability would likely require an attacker to either provide malicious input during the virtual environment creation process or modify existing virtual environment configuration/templates; therefore, some level of local access or control over input is typically needed. No authentication is inherently required to exploit virtualenv itself, but the attacker needs to be in a position to trigger the vulnerable activation script generation or execution. This is primarily a local vulnerability, requiring the attacker to have direct access to the system where virtualenv is being used or to trick a user into activating a malicious virtual environment. The complexity is moderate, as it requires understanding how virtualenv processes templates. Risk factors include environments where untrusted users can create or modify virtual environments.
What are the Known Public Exploits?
| PoC Author | Link | Commentary |
|---|---|---|
| No known exploits | ||
What are the Available Fixes for BIT-virtualenv-2024-53899?
About the Fix from Resolved Security
This patch fixes CVE-2024-53899 by replacing direct template variable injection (e.g., 'VIRTUAL_ENV') in shell and activation scripts with properly quoted variable values, using context-appropriate quoting functions. This prevents command injection when special characters are present in environment or prompt names, thus neutralizing the risk that unquoted values could be interpreted as shell commands or break script syntax.
Available Upgrade Options
- virtualenv
- <20.26.6 → Upgrade to 20.26.6
Struggling with dependency upgrades?
See how Resolved Security's drop-in replacements make it simple.
Book a demoAdditional Resources
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/pull/2771
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/issues/2768
- https://github.com/pypa/advisory-database/tree/main/vulns/virtualenv/PYSEC-2024-187.yaml
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/20.26.6
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/issues/2768
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/issues/2768
- https://osv.dev/vulnerability/PYSEC-2024-187
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/20.26.6
- https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/pull/2771
What are Similar Vulnerabilities to BIT-virtualenv-2024-53899?
Similar Vulnerabilities: CVE-2023-48760 , CVE-2023-47000 , CVE-2023-4550 , CVE-2023-37905 , CVE-2023-28432
