{"id":"CVE-2026-113776","summary":"virtualenv activation scripts run code from a path that contains a placeholder name","details":"virtualenv is a tool for creating isolated virtual python environments. From 20.26.6 until 21.14.2, ViaTemplateActivator.instantiate_template() replaces placeholders one key at a time across the complete activation template, so trigger names such as __VIRTUAL_NAME__, __VIRTUAL_ENV__, or __VIRTUAL_PROMPT__ inside an already substituted and quoted environment path or prompt can be replaced during a later pass. The later value's quoting can close the earlier literal and execute the remaining path when a user activates the environment through bash, fish, xonsh, or activate_this.py. The distinct csh prompt-display token __VIRTUAL_PROMPT_DISPLAY_TCSH__ can instead break the generated script without establishing command execution. The attacker must influence the destination path or --prompt, and a value without a relevant placeholder name does not trigger this mechanism. This issue is fixed in version 21.14.2.","aliases":["GHSA-8rjx-v5ww-45pp"],"modified":"2026-10-21T10:45:26.595176374Z","published":"2026-10-20T22:03:18.274Z","database_specific":{"cwe_ids":["CWE-78","CWE-94"],"osv_generated_from":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/113xxx/CVE-2026-113776.json","cna_assigner":"GitHub_M"},"references":[{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/tree/main/cves/2026/113xxx/CVE-2026-113776.json"},{"type":"FIX","url":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/commit/602b26623a724827ff171bf11fef4ad186d01f74"},{"type":"WEB","url":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/21.14.2"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-8rjx-v5ww-45pp"},{"type":"ADVISORY","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-113776"}],"affected":[{"ranges":[{"type":"GIT","repo":"https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv","events":[{"introduced":"ec04726d065372ffad9920998aef1ce41252a61d"},{"fixed":"a6bdda0220f664c04042f063bd7344f800934559"},{"fixed":"602b26623a724827ff171bf11fef4ad186d01f74"}],"database_specific":{"extracted_events":[{"range":[{"introduced":"20.26.6"},{"fixed":"21.14.2"}],"source":"AFFECTED_FIELD","strategy":"StringRangeExpression"},{"source":"REFERENCES_COMMIT","range":[{"fixed":"602b26623a724827ff171bf11fef4ad186d01f74"}]},{"original_tag":"21.14.2","range":[{"fixed":"a6bdda0220f664c04042f063bd7344f800934559"}],"source":"REFERENCES_TAG"}]}}],"database_specific":{"source":"https://storage.googleapis.com/cve-osv-conversion/osv-output/CVE-2026-113776.json"}}],"schema_version":"1.9.0","severity":[{"type":"CVSS_V3","score":"CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"}]}