๐Ÿ” CVE Alert

CVE-2026-113726

HIGH 7.8

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

CVSS Score
7.8
EPSS Score
0.0%
EPSS Percentile
0th

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.

CWE CWE-78 CWE-116
Vendor pypa
Product virtualenv
Published Oct 20, 2026
Stay Ahead of the Next One

Get instant alerts for pypa virtualenv

Be the first to know when new high vulnerabilities affecting pypa virtualenv are published โ€” delivered to Slack, Telegram or Discord.

Get Free Alerts โ†’ Free ยท No credit card ยท 60 sec setup

CVSS v3 Breakdown

CVSS:3.1/AV:L/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Attack Vector
Local
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
None
User Interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

Affected Versions

pypa / virtualenv
< 21.14.4

References

NVD โ†— CVE.org โ†— EPSS Data โ†—
github.com: https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/security/advisories/GHSA-5vjq-rrrf-7h2q github.com: https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/commit/5b915367da82bd024b2a0d28d2f98007034b4aa2 github.com: https://github.com/pypa/virtualenv/releases/tag/21.14.4