CVE-2026-115791

Published Nov 10, 2026 Modified Nov 11, 2026 CWE-829

Description

When tarfile or zipfile command line interface (CLI) is used to decompress an archive, a Python script shadowing the stdlib can be created. Then if an error occurs during decompressing the next file, the newly created Python script is executed. This is especially true if the created Python is called traceback.py. The problem is that Python adds the current directory to sys.path when python -m MODULE is run, and the archive is also decompressed in the current directory. The fix removes sys.path[0] in gzip, tarfile and zipfile command line interface to prevent shadowing standard library modules from extracted files.

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Weakness Type (CWE)

CWE-829 CWE-829

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2026-115791? +
When tarfile or zipfile command line interface (CLI) is used to decompress an archive, a Python script shadowing the stdlib can be created. Then if an error occurs during decompressing the next file, the newly created Python script is executed. This is especially true if the created Python is called traceback.py. The problem is that Python adds the current directory to sys.path when python -m MODULE is run, and the archive is also decompressed in the current directory. The fix removes sys.path[0] in gzip, tarfile and zipfile command line interface to prevent shadowing standard library modules from extracted files.
How do I check if I'm vulnerable to CVE-2026-115791? +
You can use Secably's free Website Scanner to check your website for known vulnerabilities. For infrastructure scanning, use the Port Scanner to identify exposed services that may be affected. Check the vendor advisories linked above for specific patch and version information.

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