CVE-2026-113718

virtualenv: Xonsh activation literals depend on the script decoding codec

HIGH
7.1
CVSS Score
Published: October 20, 2026 at 07:39 PM UTC
Updated: October 27, 2026 at 02:16 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorVirtualenv

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Severity
HIGH7.1
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
PoC

Description

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.14.9, POSIX xonsh activation quote() uses repr() to write printable non-ASCII prompt or destination data into UTF-8 activate.xsh, while xonsh can read that script using $XONSH_ENCODING. Under a legacy multibyte codec such as GBK or Big5, a UTF-8 trail byte can consume the backslash before an adjacent quote, allowing the literal to close and attacker-influenced statements to execute when the user sources the generated script. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.9.

Affected

Our own answer: ranges merged, affected separated from platform-only, with confidence and review flags.

v < 21.14.9

Remediation

No guide yet

No remediation guidance has been written for this CVE yet, and no fixed version or vendor advisory is recorded against it.

SSVC — Action Prioritization

SSVCPoCNot automatableTotal impact

SSVC signals action urgency (what to patch first), separate from CVSS which measures severity.

CVSS

7.1HIGHGitHub_M
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusUNDERGOING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-94

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