Description
pdm is a Python package and dependency manager supporting the latest PEP standards. It's possible to craft a malicious `pdm.lock` file that could allow e.g. an insider or a malicious open source project to appear to depend on a trusted PyPI project, but actually install another project. A project `foo` can be targeted by creating the project `foo-2` and uploading the file `foo-2-2.tar.gz` to pypi.org. PyPI will see this as project `foo-2` version `2`, while PDM will see this as project `foo` version `2-2`. The version must only be `parseable as a version` and the filename must be a prefix of the project name, but it's not verified to match the version being installed. Version `2-2` is also not a valid normalized version per PEP 440. Matching the project name exactly (not just prefix) would fix the issue. When installing dependencies with PDM, what's actually installed could differ from what's listed in `pyproject.toml` (including arbitrary code execution on install). It could also be used for downgrade attacks by only changing the version. This issue has been addressed in commit `6853e2642df` which is included in release version `2.9.4`. Users are advised to upgrade. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
Affected products
| Vendor | Product | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|---|
| pdm-project | pdm | >= 2.0.0,< 2.9.4 | — |
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | pdm | 2.20.0.post1+ds1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | pdm | 2.20.0.post1+ds1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | pdm | No fix yet | — |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 26.10 | pdm | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 26.04 LTS | pdm | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 25.10 | pdm | No fix yet | — |
openSUSE
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | python-unearth | 0.18.3-1.1 | openSUSE-SU-2026:11541-1 |
Affected packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Affected | Fixed | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PyPI | pdm | <= 2.9.3 | — | GHSA-j44v-mmf2-xvm9 |
| PyPI | pdm | < 2.10.0 | 2.10.0 | PYSEC-2026-1763 |
Advisories 1
- openSUSE-SU-2026:11541-1 python313-unearth-0.18.3-1.1 on GA media SUSE / openSUSE Security Updates · Aug 19, 2026
References
- https://github.com/pdm-project/pdm/security/advisories/GHSA-j44v-mmf2-xvm9
- https://github.com/pdm-project/pdm/commit/6853e2642dfa281d4a9958fbc6c95b7e32d84831
- https://github.com/frostming/unearth/blob/eca170d9370ac5032f2e497ee9b1b63823d3fe0f/src/unearth/evaluator.py#L215-L229
- https://github.com/pdm-project/pdm/blob/45d1dfa47d4900c14a31b9bb761e4c46eb5c9442/src/pdm/models/candidates.py#L98-L99
- https://peps.python.org/pep-0440/#post-release-spelling