---
id: CVE-2026-113719
title: 'virtualenv: Seed replacement does not contain metadata deletion paths'
summary: >-
  virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior
  to 21.14.9, PipInstall._uninstall_previous_version() accepts existing
  seed-package metadata and _uninstall_dist() joins entries from top_level.txt
  and RECORD t…
severity: medium
cvss: 4.5
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-22
vendor: pypa
product: virtualenv
affected:
  - virtualenv < 21.14.9
published: '2026-10-20'
updated: '2026-10-20'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-20T19:42:07.523Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-113719'
references:
  - url: 'https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx'
    label: 'https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-hhxq-47xx-j5xx'
  - url: 'https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/pull/3428'
    label: 'https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/pull/3428'
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/commit/e3cea6fa10a50fa29cf1fdddd772458fba076d5f
    label: >-
      https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/commit/e3cea6fa10a50fa29cf1fdddd772458fba076d5f
  - url: 'https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/21.14.9'
    label: 'https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/21.14.9'
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-20T20:18:14.534Z'
---

## Overview

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.14.9, PipInstall._uninstall_previous_version() accepts existing seed-package metadata and _uninstall_dist() joins entries from top_level.txt and RECORD to site-packages without checking containment. When a reused destination contains distribution metadata influenced by another account, relative traversal, absolute entries, or linked parents can cause app-data reseeding to delete files outside the environment or the environment root with the invoking user's permissions, provided that user has deletion rights over the named paths. The deletion occurs during environment creation before any later use of the environment. Fresh environments without existing package metadata and creation with --clear do not enter this cleanup path. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.9.

## Affected

- `virtualenv < 21.14.9`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.