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OpenAdvisories
High · 7.1 CVE-2026-115586 BIT-virtualenv-2026-115586EUVD-2026-109131GHSA-cx6f-vjhg-g3cc

virtualenv: Bash activator leaves the --prompt value unescaped in PS1 when promptvars is off, so prompt expansion later executes it (regression in 21.14.9)

Published Oct 23, 2026 · Updated Oct 23, 2026 · Assigned by GitHub_M

Description

virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. From 21.14.9 until 21.14.13, the bash bin/activate script can copy an attacker-controlled --prompt value into PS1 without escaping dollar signs or backticks when both promptvars and POSIX mode are disabled during activation. Re-enabling promptvars, running set -o posix, or starting an interactive child bash that inherits the exported PS1 can then expand command substitution in the stored VIRTUAL_ENV_PROMPT value and execute commands as the user who activates the environment. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.13.

Affected products

VendorProductAffectedFixed
pypa virtualenv >= 21.14.9, < 21.14.13 —

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
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

Wolfi

ReleasePackageFixed inAdvisory
Wolfi rolling py3-cassandra-medusa 0.31.0-r7 —

Affected packages

EcosystemPackageAffectedFixedRecord
PyPI virtualenv >= 21.14.9, < 21.14.13 21.14.13 GHSA-cx6f-vjhg-g3cc

Advisories 4

References