---
id: CVE-2026-50558
title: >-
  Penelope Shell Handler is a post-exploitation shell handler for authorized
  security testing
summary: >-
  Penelope Shell Handler is a post-exploitation shell handler for authorized
  security testing. Prior to 0.20.0, the Unix download() implementation in
  penelope.py used tar.extractall(local_download_folder) on tar archives
  returned by remote…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.9
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:L'
cwe:
  - CWE-22
vendor: penelope-shell-handler
product: penelope-shell-handler
affected:
  - penelope-shell-handler < 0.20.0
patched:
  - penelope-shell-handler 0.20.0
published: '2026-07-29'
updated: '2026-09-10'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-10T20:05:05.293'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-50558'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/brightio/penelope/commit/a040afb5db32c7e80b5e8a2f9b2164cf911cfa62
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: 'https://github.com/brightio/penelope/releases/tag/v0.20.0'
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/brightio/penelope/security/advisories/GHSA-f42x-p2mx-hm8r
    label: security-advisories@github.com
  - url: >-
      https://github.com/brightio/penelope/security/advisories/GHSA-f42x-p2mx-hm8r
    label: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
  - url: 'https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f42x-p2mx-hm8r'
tags:
  - nvd
  - ghsa
  - pip
epss: 0.00298
epssPercentile: 0.22679
aliases:
  - GHSA-f42x-p2mx-hm8r
ecosystem: pip
ingestedAt: '2026-07-29T15:48:25.843Z'
---

## Overview

Penelope Shell Handler is a post-exploitation shell handler for authorized security testing. Prior to 0.20.0, the Unix download() implementation in penelope.py used tar.extractall(local_download_folder) on tar archives returned by remote sessions without validating member paths, allowing a malicious or compromised session to write files outside the intended download directory and potentially overwrite ~/.penelope/peneloperc. This issue is fixed in version 0.20.0.

## Remediation

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

## Package advisory (CVE-2026-50558)

Affected packages:

- `penelope-shell-handler < 0.20.0`

Patched in:

- `penelope-shell-handler 0.20.0`

Source: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-f42x-p2mx-hm8r