{"id":"CVE-2026-113776","title":"virtualenv activation scripts run code from a path that contains a placeholder name","summary":"virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. From 20.26.6 until 21.14.2, ViaTemplateActivator.instantiate_template() replaces placeholders one key at a time across the complete activation template, so trigger n…","severity":"high","cvss":7.8,"cvssVector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H","cvssSource":"cna","cwe":["CWE-78","CWE-94"],"vendor":"pypa","product":"virtualenv","affected":["virtualenv >= 20.26.6, < 21.14.2"],"published":"2026-10-20","updated":"2026-10-20","sourceUpdated":"2026-10-20T22:03:18.274Z","source":"CVEORG","sourceUrl":"https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-113776","references":[{"url":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-8rjx-v5ww-45pp","label":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-8rjx-v5ww-45pp"},{"url":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/commit/602b26623a724827ff171bf11fef4ad186d01f74","label":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/commit/602b26623a724827ff171bf11fef4ad186d01f74"},{"url":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/21.14.2","label":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/21.14.2"}],"tags":["cve.org"],"ingestedAt":"2026-10-20T22:23:33.690Z","slug":"CVE-2026-113776","body":"## Overview\n\nvirtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. From 20.26.6 until 21.14.2, ViaTemplateActivator.instantiate_template() replaces placeholders one key at a time across the complete activation template, so trigger names such as __VIRTUAL_NAME__, __VIRTUAL_ENV__, or __VIRTUAL_PROMPT__ inside an already substituted and quoted environment path or prompt can be replaced during a later pass. The later value's quoting can close the earlier literal and execute the remaining path when a user activates the environment through bash, fish, xonsh, or activate_this.py. The distinct csh prompt-display token __VIRTUAL_PROMPT_DISPLAY_TCSH__ can instead break the generated script without establishing command execution. The attacker must influence the destination path or --prompt, and a value without a relevant placeholder name does not trigger this mechanism. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.2.\n\n## Affected\n\n- `virtualenv >= 20.26.6, < 21.14.2`\n\n## Remediation\n\nRefer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.","depth":"twilight","depthScore":43,"depthScoreParts":{"impact":42.9,"likelihood":0,"exploitation":0,"ransomware":0},"changes":[]}