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OpenAdvisories
High · 7.8 CVE-2026-113726 BIT-virtualenv-2026-113726EUVD-2026-106869GHSA-5vjq-rrrf-7h2q

virtualenv activate runs commands from the environment name in zsh with PROMPT_SUBST

Published Oct 20, 2026 · Updated Oct 27, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. Prior to 21.13.0, the bash activate script that zsh also sources leaves the environment name unescaped; from 21.13.0 until 21.14.4, it escapes backslashes, dollar signs, and backticks only when BASH_VERSION is set, so zsh receives the raw value. The script assigns that value to PS1. In zsh with PROMPT_SUBST, an attacker-influenced environment directory, --prompt, or VIRTUALENV_PROMPT value containing command, parameter, or arithmetic expansion syntax can therefore execute commands in the user's shell each time the prompt is drawn. A percent sign is separately interpreted as a zsh prompt escape but does not by itself execute commands. Plain zsh with PROMPT_SUBST disabled and bash are not affected by this mechanism. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.4.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
pypa virtualenv < 21.14.4 —

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.

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian 14 python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Debian 13 python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Debian 12 python-virtualenv No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu 26.10 python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Ubuntu 14.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Show 3 more (older releases, extended support, other products)
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Ubuntu Pro 24.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 22.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
Ubuntu Pro 20.04 LTS python-virtualenv No fix yet —
ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
openSUSE Tumbleweed python-virtualenv 21.15.1-1.1 openSUSE-SU-2026:12372-1

Amazon Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Amazon Linux 2023 python3-virtualenv 20.4.0-3.amzn2023.0.6 ALAS2023-2026-3409
Amazon Linux 2023 python3.13-virtualenv 20.21.1-1.amzn2023.0.5 ALAS2023-2026-3410
Amazon Linux 2 python-virtualenv 15.1.0-4.amzn2.0.1 ALAS2-2026-4085

Azure Linux

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Azure Linux 3 python-pip No fix yet —
Azure Linux 3 python-virtualenv 20.36.1-10 —

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
PyPI virtualenv < 21.14.4 21.14.4 GHSA-5vjq-rrrf-7h2q

Advisories 4

References