CVE-2026-113732

virtualenv activate.fish runs commands from a path or prompt with a backslash before a quote

HIGH
7.8
CVSS Score
Published: October 20, 2026 at 10:01 PM UTC
Updated: October 27, 2026 at 02:16 PM UTC
1 product affected across 1 vendorVirtualenv

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Severity
HIGH7.8
Exploit prediction
EPSS 0.2%
SSVC
No known exploit

Description

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.14.2, FishActivator inherits ViaTemplateActivator.quote(), which uses POSIX shlex.quote() even though fish interprets backslashes and single quotes differently. An attacker-influenced environment path, --prompt, or VIRTUALENV_PROMPT value containing a backslash before a quote can therefore terminate the generated fish literal and execute command substitution when the user sources activate.fish. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.2.

Affected

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

v < 21.14.2

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

SSVCNo known exploitNot automatableTotal impact

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

CVSS

7.8HIGHGitHub_M
Attack Vector
LOCAL
Complexity
LOW
Privileges
NONE
User Interaction
REQUIRED
Scope
UNCHANGED
Confidentiality
HIGH
Integrity
HIGH
Availability
HIGH
Vector?

Quick Info

StatusUNDERGOING ANALYSIS
CWE
CWE-78CWE-116

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